Guru shishya english

1. Publisher :
Mr. Ajit C. Patel
Mahavideh Foundation 5, Mamatapark Society,
B/h. Navgujarat College,
Usmanpura, Ahmedabad-380014
Gujarat, India.
Tel. : [phone]
E-Mail : [email protected]
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Dist.:Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.
First Edition :
1000 copies, March, 2008
Price: Ultimate Humility &
"I Do not Know Anything"
Rs. 35.00
4.00 USD, 2.00 GBP
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AB
CD
GURU
AND
DISCIPLE

- Gnani Purush Dada Bhagwan
Originally Compiled in Gujarati by :
Dr. Niruben Amin

2. Trimantra
(The Three Mantras)
Namo Arihantanam
I bow to the Lord who has annihilated all the inner
enemies of anger, pride, attachment and greed.
Namo Siddhanam
I bow to all the Lord who have attained final liberation.
Namo Aayariyanam
I bow to all the Self-realized masters who unfold the path
of liberation.
Namo Uvazzayanam
I bow to the Self-realized teachers of the path of
liberation.
Namo Loye Savva Saahunam
I bow to all who have attained the Self and are
progressing in this path in the universe.
Eso Pancha Namukkaro
These five salutations.
Saava Paavappanasano
Destroy all the sins.
Mangalanam cha Saavesim
Of all that is auspicious mantras.
Padhamam Havai Mangalam
This is the highest.
CCCCC Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
I bow to the One who has become the Supreme Lord
from a human being.
CCCCC Namah Shivaaya
I bow to all auspicious beings of this universe who are
the instruments of salvation of the world.
Jai Sat Chit Anand
The Awareness Of The Eternal Is Bliss.
™™™™™
Note About This Translation
The Gnani Purush Ambalal M. Patel, also commonly
known as Dadashri or Dada, had said that it would be impossible
to translate his satsangs and the knowledge about the Science
of Self-Realization verbatim into English because some of the
meanings would be lost in the process. Therefore, in order to
understand precisely the science of Akram Vignan and Self-
Realization He stressed the importance of learning Gujarati.
Dadashri did however grant his blessings to translate his
words into English and other languages so that spiritual seekers
could benefit to a certain degree and later progress through
their own efforts.
This is a humble attempt to present to the world, the
essence of His Knowledge. This is not a literal translation but
great care has been taken to preserve His original words and
the essence of His message. For certain Gujarati words, several
English words or even sentences are needed to convey the
exact meaning; hence, many Gujarati words have been retained
within the English text for better reading flow. At the first
encounter, the Gujarati word will be italicized followed by an
immediate explanation of its meaning in brackets. Thereafter the
Gujarati word will be used in the text that follows. This serves
as a two-fold benefit: firstly ease of translation and reading and
secondly it will make the reader more familiar with the Gujarati
words critical for a deeper understanding of this science. A
glossary of all the Gujarati words is provided at the back of the
book. For additional glossary, visit our website at :
www.dadabhagwan.org
Many people have worked diligently towards achieving
this goal and we thank them all. Please note that any errors
encountered in this translation are entirely those of the translators.
™™™™™
34

3. Introduction to The Gnani
One June evening, in 1958 at around six o’clock, Ambalal
Muljibhai Patel, a family man, and a contractor by profession,
was sitting on a bench on the busy platform number three at
Surat’s train station. Surat is a city in south Gujarat, a western
state in India. What happened within the next forty-eight minutes
was phenomenal. Spontaneous Self-Realization occurred within
Ambalal M. Patel. During this event, his ego completely melted
and from that moment onwards, he became completely detached
from all of Ambalal’s thoughts, speech, and actions. He became
the Lord’s living instrument for the salvation of humankind,
through the path of knowledge. He called this Lord, ‘Dada
Bhagwan.’ To everyone he met, he would say, “This Lord,
Dada Bhagwan is fully manifested within me. He also resides
within all living beings. The difference is that within me He is
completely expressed and in you, he has yet to manifest.”
Who are we? What is God? Who runs this world? What
is karma? What is liberation? Etc. All the world’s spiritual
questions were answered during this event. Thus, nature offered
absolute vision to the world through the medium of Shree Ambalal
Muljibhai Patel.
Ambalal was born in Tarasali, a suburb of Baroda and
was later raised in Bhadran, Gujarat. His wife’s name was
Hiraba. Although he was a contractor by profession, his life at
home and his interactions with everyone around him were
exemplary, even prior to his Self-Realization. After becoming
Self-Realized and attaining the state of a Gnani, (The Awakened
One, Jnani in Hindi), his body became a ‘public charitable trust.’
Throughout his entire life, he lived by the principle that
there should not be any commerce in religion, and in all
commerce, there must be religion. He also never took money
from anyone for his own use. He used the profits from his business
to take his devotees for pilgrimages to various parts of India.
Books of Akram V
ignan of Dada Bhagwan
1 Adjust Everywhere
2 Ahimsa : Non-Violence
3 Anger
4 Aptavani 1
5 Aptavani 2
6 Aptavani 9
7 Autobiography of Gnani Purush A.M.Patel
8 Avoid Clashes
9 Brahmacharya : Celibacy
Attained With Understanding
10 Death : Before, During & After...
11 Flawless Vision
12 Generation Gap
13 Harmony In Marriage
14 Life Without Conflict
15 Money
16 Noble Use of Money
17 Pratikraman :
The master key that resolves all conflicts
18 Pure Love
19 Science of Karma
20 Science of Speech
21 Shree Simandhar Swami : The Living God
22 The Essence Of All Religion
23 The Fault Is Of the Sufferer
24 The Guru and The Disciple
25 Tri Mantra :
The mantra that removes all worldly obstacles
26 Whatever Happened is Justice
27 Who Am I ?
28 Worries
'Dadavani' Magazine is published Every month
56

4. His words became the foundation for the new, direct, and
step-less path to Self-Realization called Akram Vignan. Through
his divine original scientific experiment (The Gnan Vidhi), he
imparted this knowledge to others within two hours. Thousands
have received his grace through this process and thousands
continue to do so even now. ‘Akram’ means without steps; an
elevator path or a shortcut, whereas ‘Kram’ means an orderly,
step-by-step spiritual path. Akram is now recognized as a direct
shortcut to the bliss of the Self.
Who is Dada Bhagwan?
When he explained to others who ‘Dada Bhagwan’ is, he
would say :
“What you see here is not ‘Dada Bhagwan’. What you
see is ‘A. M. Patel.’ I am a Gnani Purush and ‘He’ that is
manifested within me, is ‘Dada Bhagwan’. He is the Lord within.
He is within you and everyone else. He has not yet manifested
within you, whereas within me he is fully manifested. I myself am
not a Bhagwan. I too bow down to Dada Bhagwan within me.”
Current link for attaining the knowledge of
Self-Realization (Atma Gnan)
“I am personally going to impart siddhis (special spiritual
powers) to a few people. After I leave, will there not be a need
for them? People of future generations will need this path, will
they not?” ~ Dadashri
Param Pujya Dadashri used to go from town to town,
and country to country, to give satsang and impart the
knowledge of the Self as well as knowledge of harmonious
worldly interaction to all who came to see him. During his final
days, in the fall of 1987, he gave his blessing to Dr. Niruben
Amin and bestowed his special siddhis upon her, to continue
his work. “You will have to become a mother to this whole
world, Niruben” He told her as he blessed her. There was no
doubt in Dadashri’s mind that Niruben was destined to be just
that. She had served him with utmost devotion day and night
for over twenty years. Dadashri in turn had molded her and
prepared her to take on this monumental task.
From the time of Pujya Dadashri’s mortal departure on
January 2 1988 to her own mortal departure on March 19
th
2006, Pujya Niruma as she lovingly came to be called by
thousands remained true to her promise to Dadashri to carry on
his mission of the world’s salvation. She became Dadashri’s
representative of Akram Vignan and became instrumental in
spreading the knowledge of Akram Vignan throughout the world.
She also became an exemplary of pure and unconditional love.
Thousands of people from all walks of life and from all over the
world have attained Self-Realization through her and are
established in the experience of the pure Soul, while carrying
out their worldly duties and obligations. They experience freedom
here and now, while living their daily life.
The link of Akram Gnanis now continues with the current
spiritual master Pujya Deepakbhai Desai whom Pujya Dadashri
had also graced with special siddhis to continue to teach the
world about Atma Gnan and Akram Vignan. He was further
molded and trained by Pujya Niruma who blessed him to conduct
Gnan Vidhi in 2003. Dadashri had said that Deepakbhai will
become the decorum that will add splendor to the Lord’s reign.
Pujya Deepakbhai, in keeping with Dada’s and Niruma’s tradition
travels extensively within India and abroad, giving satsangs and
imparting the knowledge of the Self to all who come seeking.
Powerful words in scriptures help the seeker in increasing
his desire for liberation. The knowledge of the Self is the final
goal of all one’s seeking. Without the knowledge of the Self
there is no liberation. This knowledge of the Self (Atma Gnan)
does not exist in books. It exists in the heart of a Gnani. Hence,
the knowledge of the Self can only be acquired by meeting a
Gnani. Through the scientific approach of Akram Vignan, even
today one can attain Atma Gnan, but it can only occur by
meeting a living Atma Gnani and receiving the Atma Gnan. Only
a lit candle can light another candle.
78

5. PREFACE
The worldly life is of father-son, mother-son or daughter,
wife-husband, etc., relationships. Also to be found in the worldly
life is the delicate guru-disciple relationship. It is a relationship
in which, after surrendering to the guru, the disciple remains
sincere to him for the rest of his life, and increasing his param
vinay (absolute humility) for his guru, he abides by his
instructions and attains the ultimate special spiritual siddhi
(energy; power). This book puts forth a beautiful description
of what constitutes an ideal guru as well as an ideal disciple.
Currently many different beliefs about a guru are prevalent
and hence people become very confused about how to find the
right guru. Perplexing questions on this matter have been asked
to the Gnani Purush Dadashri, and He has given answers to
the point of total satisfaction of the questioner.
Gnani Purush means a ‘worldly observatory as well as
an observatory of absolute internal science.’ In these proceeding
pages you will find answers to questions such as, ‘What does
the status of a guru mean?’ ‘Is there a need for a guru in
spirituality? And if so, to what extent?’ ‘What qualities must a
guru have? Should he be superior or humble?’ ‘Is the guru
qualified? Does he have the master keys necessary for a guru?’
‘Is the guru trapped in greed, desires and illusion?’ ‘Does he
have sexual desires or desires to have a following of disciples?’
How do you choose a guru? Whom should you make your
guru? How many gurus should one make? If one already has
a guru, can he have another one? What should one do if the
guru turns out to be unworthy? What are the dangerous pitfalls
inherent in the relationship of a guru and the disciple? What
should a disciple be like?
This book gives information on various topics concerning
gurus and disciples; information related to what the subtle
awareness of the disciple should be. How should a guru behave
towards the disciples so that it benefits him as well as the
disciples in their spiritual progress? How should the disciple
conduct himself with the guru? When should a disciple make a
guru so that he may attain knowledge and experience? What
kind of weaknesses must a guru not have so that he is strong
enough to help his disciple progress? How is one to find the
kind of devotion Eklavya had for his guru in this day and age?
Through Gnani Purush Dadashri, we get answers to questions
asked to him regarding whether as a Gnani he had a guru,
whether he had disciples, what kind of a state does he move
around in, etc.
According to common knowledge, people consider a guru,
a satguru and a Gnani as one and same, whereas here in this
book, Dadashri gives us a clear distinction between the three.
How can one walk the spiritual path without the one who
is already familiar with that path? To be familiar means to be a
guide.
Here, in this book, you gain knowledge and understanding
of what the leader of the path of moksha – the ultimate guru –
should be like.
With the aim and the vision that both guru and his
disciple can go forth on the path of liberation, Dadashri, who
while moving around in the supreme spiritual state as the Gnani,
gives various visions and understanding regarding the guru-
disciple relationship. There was no one more humble than He
was. The understanding given to us by way of the Gnani’s
speech is presented here, which will become a guide to all
traveling the path of liberation.
- Dr. Niruben Amin
910

6. 2 The Guru and the Disciple
The Guru and the Disciple
Guru means Guide
Questioner: I have tried many spiritual paths and teachers
for the answer to the term ‘Guru’ and everywhere I have searched;
I have not received any satisfactory answers.
Dadashri: If you want to go to the station from here and
get lost on the way, will you not have to ask someone for help?
Whom would you ask?
Questioner: Someone who knows the way.
Dadashri: The one that knows, is a guru. As long as you
do not know the way, you need to ask someone; you may even
have to ask a small child. Whomever you ask becomes your guru.
Only when there is a guru will you find the way. What would
happen without your eyes? The guru is the other eye. He clarifies
your path and gives you the light to go ahead. This light is called
sooj.
Who needs a Guru?
Questioner: Do you mean to say that a guru is necessary?
Dadashri: It is like this: the road on which one gets lost is
the road he is not able to figure out. If you do not know the way
to the station, then it is a problem. However, if along the way, you
encounter someone who knows the way, then you will reach the
station quickly, will you not?
Questioner: Yes, that is true.
Dadashri: So you need someone who has the knowledge.
It is not as if the person showing you the way is telling you to ask
him. You are asking him out of your own necessity, are you not?
For whose benefit are you asking?
Questioner: For my own benefit.
Dadashri: Or you can keep on walking without asking
anyone and try to experience that! That experience will teach you
that there is a need for a guru. I will not have to teach you.
So there is a path, but there is no one to show it to you, is
there? Only if there were someone to show you that path can
your work be accomplished.
Will you not need a guru or an experienced guide
(bhomiyo)? Whoever is the guru, we are considered his followers.
The guru walks ahead and shows us the way. Such a person is
considered an experienced guide.
If a man takes the road going in the opposite direction of
Surat, is he likely to reach Surat station if he keeps going in that
direction? No matter how much he roams, he will not be able to
find Surat station. The night would fall and the day would come
but he would still not find Surat station. Such is the confusion
here.
When you are lost, a guide is your friend
Questioner: None of the gurus shows the right path.
Dadashri: But those gurus themselves do not know the
way, so what can anyone do? No one has found an experienced
guide yet. If he had, then he would not have these problems. If
you had found such a guide, in addition to showing you the station
he would also tell you which train to take. He would show you
everything and your task would be finished. Here we have a situation

7. The Guru and the Disciple 3 4 The Guru and the Disciple where the guide, too, is lost and, therefore, he makes his follower
wander around life after life. So find yourself a true, experienced
guide who can show you the station. If not, he will make you
wander around aimlessly.
If a blind person leads another blind person, where will
they both end up? A true, experienced guide will immediately
show you the way. Nothing will be pending; you will see instant
results. You have not found a real experienced guide ( bhomiyo).
Therefore, find such a person.
Questioner: But would such a guide not be our superior?
Dadashri: The experienced guide is a superior – but to
what extent? Only to the extent, that he takes us to the final
destination.
That is why you absolutely need someone above you,
someone to show you. You need an experienced guide. You
always need a guide. You will need a guide in every situation. No
work can be done without a guide. If we want to go to Delhi and
we look for a guide, then what is he if not a guru? If we give him
money, he becomes our guide. A guru is someone who shows
you the way as a guide.
Questioner: Therefore, one definitely needs someone who
clarifies and shows the path.
Dadashri: Yes, the person who shows you the path is a
guru, whoever he may be.
Support of a Guru is necessary at every level
Questioner: I walk along the path shown by the guru.
Thereafter, do I need him? Alternatively, do I need to leave
him?
Dadashri: No, he is necessary until the very end.
Questioner: Why do we need him afterwards?
Dadashri: You do not have accidents because you have
brakes in your car. Should you remove the brakes?
Questioner: What is the need of hanging on to him once
he shows me the way?
Dadashri: You will need a guru until the very end. The
guru needs his own guru. When do we need schoolteachers? Don’t
you need them when you wish to become educated? And what if
you do not want to study? If you do not want to benefit from
anything then there is no point in making someone your guru, but
if you wish to benefit, then you need to have a guru. It is not
mandatory; it is voluntary. If you want to learn, you need a teacher.
If you want to know about spirituality, then you need a guru, and
if you do not wish to know anything, then it does not matter.
There is no law that says you have to do it this way.
Here, even if you want to go to the station, you need a
guru. Therefore, won’t you need a guru for religion? You need a
guru at every level.
There is no knowledge without a Guru
Without a guru, no knowledge of any kind can be attained.
Neither worldly knowledge nor spiritual knowledge can be attained
without a guru. It is wrong to have expectations of knowledge
(Gnan) without a guru.
Questioner: One man says that Gnan (Gnan Vidhi in
Akram) is not something that is to be taken or given, but rather it
is something that happens. Can you explain this?
Dadashri: This is a discovery of people who are deluded.
They claim, “Gnan is not to be taken, neither is it to be given.
Gnan happens spontaneously”, but that state of delusion never
leaves.
One grows up learning the knowledge he has been given.
The teacher gives you knowledge and you take it. You in turn give

8. The Guru and the Disciple 5 6 The Guru and the Disciple that knowledge to others. Knowledge by its nature involves give
and take.
Questioner: But can one not attain Gnan spontaneously?
Dadashri: Only rarely will one attain Gnan spontaneously,
however, that is an exception; he may not have a guru in this
lifetime, but he must have had one in his previous life. Otherwise,
everything is dependant upon a nimit (someone who is
instrumental evidence in a process). When you come across a
nimit like me, your work is done, but until then you have to
work on furthering your spiritual progress by yourself. Then, if
you meet the Gnani Purush as a nimit, because of that nimit,
everything will manifest.
Questioner: So a person cannot become Self-realized on
his own?
Dadashri: Nothing can be attained with one’s own effort.
No one in this world has ever attained that. If one were meant to
attain the experience on his own, then there would be no need for
schools, would there? There would be no need for colleges either,
would there?
Spontaneous enlightenment is extremely rare
Questioner: The Tirthankaras are considered to have
become enlightened spontaneously ( swayambuddha), are they
not?
Dadashri: Yes, the Tirthankaras are all swayambuddha
(spontaneous enlightened), but they bound a birthright as a
Tirthankara in their previous life because of a guru. Thus they are
considered swayambuddha with reference to the perspective that
they do not have a guru in this life. It is a relative thing. Those who
have become swayambuddha today had asked many questions
in their previous life. Therefore, everything in the world happens
through asking. Only a rare one will become swayambuddha
enlightened spontaneously, but that is an exception. Otherwise,
there is no gnan (knowledge) without a guru.
Questioner: It is said that Lord Rushabhdev destroyed
his karmic bondage on his own, so does that mean that he did not
need anyone?
Dadashri: But he had taken some help earlier on. He asked
for help from a guru two or three lives before. No one has become
free without enlisting help. There is a nimit even in this. It was the
people during the time of Lord Rushabhdev who claimed that the
Lord destroyed his karmic bondage on his own. However, it is
not possible to do this on one’s own – it has never happened that
way before and it never will. That is why you will always need a
nimit.
Questioner: Who were the gurus of Lord Mahavir?
Dadashri: Lord Mahavir had many gurus, but not in his
last couple of lifetimes. It is not so easy to become spontaneously
enlightened. Tirthankaras do not need a guru in their final life.
How long is a guru necessary?
Questioner: Eklavya (a student of Dronacharya who
trained Arjun in archery but refused to train Eklavya) attained
powers (siddhi) and became a master archer, even though he
had no guru. So is it not possible?
Dadashri: The siddhis that Eklavya acquired were
exceptional, but this is not always the rule. Every rule can have an
exception; moreover, these exceptions are rare. However,
because of the exception, we cannot accept the rule as a blanket
rule. If a person does not have a guru in this life, then he would
have definitely met one in his previous life!
Questioner: In Eklavya’s case, he did not learn from
Dronacharya guru, but instead he learnt in front of the guru’s
idol!

9. The Guru and the Disciple 7 8 The Guru and the Disciple
Dadashri: He learned everything in his previous life. The
idol was his nimit in this life. One needs a guru in every lifetime.
Questioner: Then can one say, “Only the guru from my
previous life will do everything for me.” So is it necessary to have
a guru in this lifetime?
Dadashri: But you may not be able to find him in this lifetime
and you may not even need him. You may even meet him in another
lifetime.
Nevertheless, you still have a very long way to walk ahead
of you. You will need many gurus. You will need a guru until you
attain moksha (final liberation). You will not need a guru after you
attain the right vision ( samkit). These talks about a guru are very
serious. You cannot do without a guru.
‘Guru is not necessary’ is a false statement
Questioner: Many saints say that there is no need to have
a guru.
Dadashri: People who say such a thing are only talking
about themselves. The world will not accept what they say. The
entire world accepts the guru. Sometimes you may get a bad guru,
but eradicating the word ‘guru’ altogether, will not do.
Questioner: Many people do not make a guru.
Dadashri: That is never so. The reason behind India’s
current predicament is that people have started to preach, ‘Do
not make a guru.’ Otherwise, India has always been a country
that believed, “No matter what, you must have at least one guru
(spiritual master).”
Guru is necessary in worldly and spiritual endeavors
Questioner: What difference does it make whether there
is a guru or not?
Dadashri: If you do not have a guru, what would you do if
while walking on a road, you come across seven more roads?
Which road will you pick?
Questioner: I would take the road that my mind accepts.
Dadashri: No, the mind will accept the one that will make
you wander. You cannot call that a path. That is why you need to
ask and make someone your guru. Make someone your guru and
ask him which way you are supposed to go. One cannot take
even a small step in this world without a guru.
Did you have teachers when you were at school?
Questioner: Yes.
Dadashri: Wherever you go, you need a teacher. Tell me
an instance when you have not needed a teacher.
Then did you not need a professor in college?
Questioner: Yes I did.
Dadashri: Therefore, one will need a guru above him the
moment he is born as a human. He will need a guru when he goes
to school and he will need one when he goes to college. There are
so many kinds of gurus. Those studying high school will need a
high school guru; at that level, a first grade teacher will not do.
There are many different types of gurus. No one has just one type
of guru. The kind of guru one will have, will depend on what he is
studying.
Then when you read a book, is the book not your guru?
Unless a book is your guru, you will not read it. Do you not read
something only if it is educational and beneficial to you?
Questioner: Yes, that is right!
Dadashri: You have been learning from books and you
have benefited because of them. If a book shows you the way

10. The Guru and the Disciple 9 10 The Guru and the Disciple and gives you directions, then is that book not your guru? Therefore,
even a book is your guru.
You learn from teachers, from books, from people; all are
considered gurus. So is the whole world not your guru?
Questioner: Today’s psychology says that one should
leave the outside support and rely on one’s own support. The
outside support, whatever it may be, makes a person dependant.
If a seeker uses external support he becomes dependant and
therefore handicapped.
Dadashri: That should not be the way; one should not
become handicapped by relying on external support. One should
leave the external support and live on his own support, but until
one can rely on his own support, he must rely on external naimittic
(instrumental support). Does a book become a nimit (an
instrument) or not? Is everything not in a nimit form? That is why
if today’s psychology tells you to let go of your support, you should
let go of that support to some extent. However, you do need to
take support to some extent; you need the support of books and
many other things.
One man was saying that he did not need a guru, so I asked
him, “Tell me who did not have a guru? Is your mother, who
instilled noble values within you, not a guru? The one who said to
you, ‘Son do this way, okay? Be cautious. Be careful here’ etc.;
if she is not a guru, then what is she?”
Questioner: That is true.
Dadashri: So the mother is the first guru. She will teach
the son how to wear clothes. A child has to learn even that and his
mother teaches him. She teaches him how to walk and do other
things. In which lifetime has he not walked? He has walked for
infinite lifetimes, but he has to learn the same thing again and again.
If the wife is not at home and you want to make kadhee
(thin gravy made out of yogurt and various spices, usually eaten
with rice), you will have to ask someone about the ingredients!
Whomever you ask is a guru. So there is a need for a guru
wherever you go. You need a guru for everything. Now, if you
need some legal work done, your lawyer is your guru. Do you
agree? So regardless of what you do and where you go, you
need a guru. The guru is necessary everywhere.
Questioner: So if one wants to go all the way to moksha,
he will need a guru.
Dadashri: You need a guru for wherever you want to go.
If you are traveling by car and want to take the highway, then you
(may) need to ask someone, if not, you will end up traveling in the
wrong direction. A guru is necessary in matters related to the
worldly life and a guru is needed in matters of nischay (spiritual
path). Therefore, it is important to understand what a guru is and
who can be called a guru.
A Guru is anything or anyone you learn from
Questioner: So as far as religion is concerned, should we
have just one guru or should we have multiple gurus?
Dadashri: It is like this: You should maintain the intention
(bhaav) of being a student or a disciple in every situation. In reality,
you should make the whole world your guru. You can learn from
even the trees. What do we do to the mango tree? In order to
pick the mango off the tree, we use a stick and beat at the branches,
but even then, the tree gives us its fruit. If we learn just this virtuous
attribute from the tree, how well we would progress spiritually!
The tree too is a jiva (embodied soul)! It is not just a piece of
wood.
Questioner: Dattatreya made some animals his guru. In
what sense was this?
Dadashri: Not only Dattatreya, everyone does that.

11. The Guru and the Disciple 11 12 The Guru and the Disciple Everyone makes animals their gurus, but these people do not call
the animals their gurus, whereas Dattatreya did! If someone were
to beat an animal, it would flee. That is what people have learned;
they have learned that if someone beats them, they should run
away. People have learned this from the animals.
Moreover, you will not attain liberation by calling just the
animals your guru; you will have to make the entire world your
guru in order to attain liberation. If you make every living being
your guru, and learn whatever you can from them, you will attain
liberation. God is present in every living being so if you embrace
and learn from them, you will attain liberation.
Did you understand the concept of a guru?
Questioner: Yes.
Dadashri: Your experiences too are your guru. Your
experiences will guide you from within. The experience, which
does not become a cause to guide you, is not an experience. That
is why these are all gurus.
One man was limping and another man began to make fun
of him and laugh at him. A little later, he happened to meet me and
told me that he had made fun of someone, but then suddenly he
realized what he was doing and asked himself whether he saw the
Soul within the limping man. He said he immediately became aware
of Gnan.
So everything teaches us. Every experience teaches us
something. If just once, someone were to pick your pocket, that
experience will teach you a lesson and that lesson will remain with
you.
If you can learn from a dog, you should learn from it. Even
dogs can be considered gurus. A dog can be sitting here for an
hour and half, then if we give him some food, he will eat only as
much as he can and will leave the rest. He will not be greedy or
have parigraha (acquisitive tendency towards material things).
We can learn from them too. So everything we learn from is our
guru. The dog does not want to become our guru but if we consider
it our guru, then the lesson we learn from it will give results. This is
the real way!
If you trip and fall down over something, that too is your
guru. How can a person progress without a guru? If you are
walking on a road and you trip and fall, the obstructing object
may say, ‘What will you lose by looking down a little when you
walk?’ Therefore, I see a guru everywhere and in everything.
Whatever you learn from, consider that as your guru. If you learn
and gain something by tripping, then you should consider it your
guru. I have gained many benefits from everything in this way.
There should be no annoyance towards the guru. Today all
knowledge has been obstructed because of annoyance with the
idea of a guru.
The one who opposes the idea of a guru has been stung in
the past life
It is not possible to do without a guru. If someone says,
‘You can do without a guru,’ it is a contradiction. In this world, it
is not possible to proceed without a guru, whether it is a technical
matter or otherwise. Such a statement is worthless. People ask
me why so many people make such statements, I tell them that
they do so without an understanding and that they do not mean
any harm by it. They are merely expressing in this life the aversion
they had for their guru in their past life.
Questioner: Why would that repulsion have arisen towards
the guru?
Dadashri: When people say there is no need for a guru,
do you know what that is comparable to? Once, when I was
young, I threw up while eating doodhpaak (milk pudding). I may
have vomited because of something else; it was not necessarily

12. The Guru and the Disciple 13 14 The Guru and the Disciple the doodhpaak but I developed an aversion for it. From that
moment onwards, I would get nervous at the sight of doodhpaak.
After that whenever they made doodhpaak at home, I would tell
my mother, ‘I do not like this sweet dish, so what will you give me
instead?’ My mother would reply, ‘Dear son, there is a millet
paste and if you eat ghee and molasses I will give you that,’ to
which I said, ‘I don’t want any ghee or molasses.’ I would not eat
until she gave me honey. Then my mother would explain to me,
“When you go to your in-laws, they will make comments like,
‘Has his mother never fed him doodhpaak?’ If they serve
doodhpaak and you do not eat it, it will look bad. So why not
start eating a little at a time?” She tried to coax me in many ways,
but nothing changed. The aversion that I developed took hold
within. That is how this aversion towards the guru has taken hold.
Questioner: But why is there repulsion for the guru?
Dadashri: It is because he had some dispute with the guru
in the past life and that results in repulsion in this life. So many
different kinds of repulsions are involved. Many people do not
have repulsion for gurus but have repulsion for God. Therefore,
this is how people reject gurus. Just as I developed an aversion to
doodhpaak due to an unrelated cause of vomiting, people develop
an aversion to gurus.
Those who claim that one can do without a guru, are
contradicting the entire world. This is because they are trying to
perpetuate their mistake onto others. What do you think of this
discussion?
Questioner: It is true.
Dadashri: If you have a clash with your guru, you may feel
it is not worth having a guru. Now if the guru has hurt you, then
you may not want to take a new guru. You cannot force your
experience on others. If I had a bitter experience with a guru, I
should not go around telling everyone that they should not make
someone a guru, just based on my own experience alone. You
should keep your prior opinions to yourself. You should not tell
people this. You cannot give instructions to others about what
they should and should not do. This is because the whole world
cannot do without a guru. Did you ever need to ask someone for
a solution?
Questioner: Yes.
Dadashri: There has not been a single man in this world
who has truly been averse to the idea of a guru. No person should
say, ‘I do not need a guru.’ Such a statement is a contradiction. If
someone should say such a thing, know that it is simply a viewpoint
and he is attached to his viewpoint.
So all you need to understand is that you need a guru in this
world. There is no need to have any repulsion towards the guru.
The very word guru has scared people nowadays! Now what
does the main element, the Self, have to do with it?
You need a guru until the very end
The one who says, ‘A guru is not needed,’ is merely
expressing his viewpoint and nothing else. Certain experiences
are such that after a lot of wandering between many gurus; and in
doing this over and over again, he gradually started getting answers
from within and thus he feels in his mind that having a guru is a
useless load.
Questioner: The one who says, “Guru is not needed,” has
reached a certain stage where the guru is no longer needed. Then
everything is dependent upon himself.
Dadashri: Even Kabir has said,
“Kabir hud ka guru hai, behud ka guru nahi! ”
“Kabir is a guru as far as the boundary reaches; he is not the
ultimate boundless guru.”

13. The Guru and the Disciple 15 16 The Guru and the Disciple
That is why you need a guru until the very end. It is extremely
difficult to reach the final destination (moksha).
Questioner: A guru is needed for worldly tasks and worldly
knowledge. But to see yourself as you are, you do not need a
guru. Is that not so?
Dadashri: You need a guru in the worldly life and you
need a guru on the path of liberation (moksha). Only a few people
would say that a guru is not needed. You cannot do without a
guru. The guru is a light. You need a guru until the very end.
Shrimad Rajchandra (Gnani Purush 1867-1901) has said that you
will need a guru until the twelfth gunthana (a stage of spiritual
development in the Kramic path), i.e., until you become God.
Questioner: My question is not to oppose the need for a
guru. I am trying to understand the issue.
Dadashri: Yes, but really a guru is needed in this world. I
too still have a guru! I sit here as the disciple of the whole world.
So then, who is my guru? People! That is why there is a need for
a guru until the very end.
Regardless of what the truth may be, is there anything wrong
in telling the truth? If something is wrong, the Gnani Purush will
immediately say so regardless of whether that person is a king or
just a commoner! If you do not believe me then I do not have any
objections. But I would not let things continue as they are. I have
come to tell the facts to the entire world because until now
everything has been hollow and without any substance. Just look
at the predicament of India today! Just look!
I cannot speak insincerely and inaccurately. What is the
world looking for? People claim it is acceptable to speak
insincerely and inaccurately to avoid interference and conflict.
However, I cannot utter even a single word that is insincere or
unsubstantiated. Though I know how to, I cannot speak that
way. All I can say is, “It is” to that which is, and “It is not” to
that which is not. I cannot say, “It is” when it is not and, “It is
not” where it is.
A guru himself may tell you ‘Do not make anyone your
guru.’ When he teaches this, what is he if not a guru? In the same
way, people may claim that a nimit is not needed, so what are
they if not a nimit, in claiming this?
The Gnani nimit liberates
Questioner: Yes, if you have the right spiritual development
(upadaan), then you will automatically find the nimit. That is what
they say.
Dadashri: Amongst us, there are many who have a very
high upadaan (spiritual development), but they wander around
because they have not found a nimit (Gnani as the liberator).
Hence, the statement, “When one has the upadaan, he will
automatically find a nimit,” is completely wrong. It carries a grave
liability. However, if you wish to speak against Gnan, then you
are free to utter this statement.
Questioner: Please give us some clarity between the nimit
and upadaan. So if one’s spiritual level ( upadaan) is ready, then
the nimit will readily come on its own. And if the nimit is readily
available, but the upadaan is not present, then what can the nimit
do?
Dadashri: All such statements that are written; are incorrect.
What is correct is that there is a need for both the nimit and
upadaan. However, if upadaan is lacking and one finds the right
nimit, then the upadaan will increase.
The nimit verily is beneficial. What if we did away with
schools on the belief that, as long as the child and his educational
development (upadaan) are present, a nimit (teacher) will
automatically come along? What would happen if we did that?
Can we do without schools?

14. The Guru and the Disciple 17 18 The Guru and the Disciple
Questioner: That will not do, but this entire discussion is
about the worldly life.
Dadashri: No, whatever is applicable in the worldly life is
applicable here, too. Here, in spiritual matters too, a nimit is needed
first!
If they did away with all the schools and books, people
would not study or learn. With a nimit, your work would progress
but without it, it would not. What qualifies as a nimit? Books are
a nimit, temples are a nimit, derasars (Jain temples) are a nimit,
the Gnani Purush is a nimit. Now if we did not have all these
books and derasars, then what will happen to the upadaan (one’s
spiritual development)? That is why your work will be done only
if there is a nimit and not otherwise.
The twenty-four Tirthankaras have repeatedly said this very
thing. They have said for us to revere and praise the nimit. If
upadaan is lacking and one meets the nimit, then his upadaan
will arise. Nevertheless the reason they are talking about upadaan
is, if in spite of meeting a nimit, if you do not keep your upadaan
awakened and ready, your work will not be done. So be careful.
That is what they are telling you.
What is upadaan? It is to keep the oil or the ghee and the
wick ready; it is to keep everything ready for the lamp, so it may
be lit. People have kept everything ready for infinite lifetimes, but
they have not found anyone to kindle the lamp. The ghee and the
wick are ready but they need someone to kindle it. One has not
found the scriptures of the nimit that will lead to moksha. One
has not met a nimit like the Gnani Purush; nimit who would take
him to moksha. He has not found all such tools ( nimit). People
have been wandering around because they have not found such
nimits.
The way people understand nimit is, if the upadaan is there,
then at that time a nimit will be found. But ‘finding a nimit’ does
not exactly mean that. One has to have the bhavna (an inner
intent) to meet the liberator ( nimit). Without the bhavna, one will
not encounter even a nimit.
People have misused this statement. The nimit himself is
saying there is no need for a
nimit. Despite being the nimit, he
talks this way.
Questioner: Yes, even Shrimad Rajchandra says the same
thing.
Dadashri: Not just Shrimad Rajchandra, but the
Tirthankaras too have said that without a nimit no work can be
accomplished. Statements like, “If there is upadaan, then there
will be a nimit” and “There is no need for a nimit,” are not
statements of the Tirthankaras or Shrimad Rajchandra. Anyone
who says such a thing speaks with a great liability. The one who
speaks this way incurs liability.
Krupadudev Shrimad Rajchandra said, “Do not search for
anything else. Seek out a Satpurush (the enlightened one; a Gnani
Purush) and leave after surrendering your all, at his feet. And then
if you do not feel liberated, then come and get it from me.” If that
were not the case he would have simply written, “Just stay at
home and sleep and the nimit will come to you and keep your
upadaan awake and active.”
The misapplication of Tirthankara’s teachings
Questioner: There is also another belief that, “We accept
the necessity for the nimit, however, the nimit is not able to do
anything!”
Dadashri: Indeed, if that were the case then there would
be no need to search for anything. What need would there be to
read books? There would be no need to go to the derasars.
Would a clever person then not question, ‘Sir, since a nimit
cannot do anything, why are you sitting here? What do we need

15. The Guru and the Disciple 19 20 The Guru and the Disciple you for? Why have you published these books? Why have you
built this temple?’ Would there not be someone to question such
things?
If a blind person says, ‘When I make my own eyes and see
through them, then I am a real man,’ would we not laugh at him?
This is how people talk. A professor at college needs students
and the students need the professor. But for the students to say
that the professor is not necessary is crazy. What kind of mania
has arisen nowadays? The Gnani Purush and the gurus are nimits;
such statements eliminate these nimits altogether.
The Gnani Purush is a nimit and you have the upadaan
(spiritual development). It does not matter how ripe is the
upadaan. Without the nimit of the Gnani Purush, this one work
of spiritual learning leading to Self-realization is such that, it cannot
happen. Self-realization is impossible without a Gnani Purush. The
essence of what I am trying to convey is that it will not happen
without a nimit. This is applicable ninety-nine percent of the time;
however, there is a one percent exception where it may even
happen without a nimit. But this exception cannot be taken as a
rule. The general rule is that it will happen only through a nimit.
An exception is a different thing. In a rule, there is always an
exception to that rule. That is the definition of a rule!
But how far have people gone? First, they claim, ‘Every
element (vastu) is separate. One element does not do anything
for any other element.’ This statement from the supreme vision of
the enlightened ones has been brought down to the level of worldly
talk and this confuses the seeker. The seeker then feels that no
one person can do anything for another.
Questioner: They are saying that no one can do anything
for anyone else.
Dadashri: Now that statement is filled with a very grave
error and tremendous liability.
Questioner: Then what do the scriptures mean when they
say that no one can do anything for anyone?
Dadashri: That is a different discussion. The scriptures
mean to say something else, but people have interpreted it a
different way. People take by mouth, a medicine that is meant to
be applied topically, and so they die! So what can anyone do?
How can we blame the doctor?
If indeed it were true that one person cannot do anything
for another, then all the lawyers and attorneys would be out of
commission! Doctors would be of no use! Wives would be useless.
All these people help each other.
Questioner: So in which context is the sentence “No one
can do anything for anyone else,” written?
Dadashri: It is applicable in nischay (from the real
perspective). It is not applicable to the worldly life. In the worldly
life there is give and take with everyone and in nischay (spirituality)
no one person can do anything for another. ‘One element ( tattva)
does not help another element’ is also applicable to nischay – the
vision of the self. However, in the worldly life everything can be
done. Incorrect statements have been given to the public and
consequently it has done a lot of damage.
Questioner: That is what I am trying to understand.
Dadashri: As far as elements are concerned, no one
element (tattva) can help or hurt another element. The elements
cannot mix with each other. This is what that statement means,
but people have taken these statements and applied them to the
worldly life. If you look at it, as far as the worldly life ( vyavahar)
is concerned, one cannot do without even a wife. In the worldly
life people cannot do without wives or husbands. The entire worldly
life is nothing but dependency. But, as far as the Self ( nischay) is
concerned, everything is completely independent. The Soul is
completely independent. But what happens when you take that

16. The Guru and the Disciple 21 22 The Guru and the Disciple which is applicable only to the Self ( nischay) and apply it to worldly
life (vyavahar)?
Knowledge of what is the untruth is very necessary
Do you understand this discussion? I do not insist that what
I say is correct. If you find it to be so, then accept it. I do not
intend to make every discussion correct. If it suits you, then you
should accept it and if you do not, it will not bother me. In any
event, I have to tell the truth. Otherwise, people have just allowed
all misrepresentations to continue.
Questioner: But that is their viewpoint, is it not?
Dadashri: Yes, that is true, but I must disclose this truth
because there are people out there who are trying to conceal it.
And nobody has the courage to speak this truth out loud. Do you
now know that all this is wrong?
Questioner: Yes Dada.
Dadashri: You should have knowledge of what is untrue.
One man said to me, ‘I can now tell if something is untrue.’ That
is what I wanted. Otherwise, uncertainty and doubts will remain;
one may feel, ‘There is some truth here and some truth there.’ As
long as this happens, you will not get the full taste of either one.
Through your Gnan (knowledge), you should be able to tell if
something is untrue, then everything will work out fine.
It is like this: if no one says anything, people will carry on as
is. A Gnani Purush, like me, states the facts clearly; I can speak
frankly and I can say things exactly as they are.
Although (Dada is) only a nimit, (He is) Absolute
nevertheless
Ask me questions – you can ask anything. You can ask any
question. This opportunity may never come again. So ask
everything. The questions are good and people will come to know
whatever facts this discussion will bring out. We will talk about
the ultimate destination too. You ask, and I will answer.
Questioner: It is also said that the guru cannot give Gnan
and that Gnan cannot be obtained without a guru. Can you explain
that?
Dadashri: That is true, is it not? If the guru ever tells you,
‘It (Gnan) happened because of me,’ then it is incorrect. Another
person may say, ‘It happens without the guru,’ which, too, is
incorrect. How do I address this issue? I tell you, ‘I am giving you
that which is already yours. I am not giving you anything that is
mine.’
Questioner: You are a nimit in all this, are you not?
Dadashri: Yes, of course, I am a nimit. I am telling you
myself that I am a nimit. I am merely a nimit! But if you hold that
I am simply a nimit then you will be at a loss. This is because your
upkari bhaav (your sense of gratitude towards me) will disappear.
The greater your gratitude towards me, the greater the results you
attain. The upkari bhaav is regarded as bhakti (devotion and
reverence).
Questioner: If we consider you a nimit, then our upkari
bhaav goes away. I do not understand this.
Dadashri: I am telling you that I am a nimit, but if you
believe that I am a nimit then you will not benefit. If you feel
gratitude towards me, then you will see the results. That is a rule
of the world. However, this nimit (Dada) is a nimit that will take
you to moksha, so have a lot of gratitude. One has to surrender to
the Gnani Purush. In addition to feeling a deep gratitude, you
should surrender your all; the mind, the body, and the speech.
One should feel that he wants to do this readily and without
hesitation.
Even the vitarags (fully enlightened ones), have said that

17. The Guru and the Disciple 23 24 The Guru and t the Gnani Purush will claim to be merely a nimit, but those desirous
of liberation should not accept him as merely a nimit. Those in
search of liberation should never contend with the idea of the
Gnani being simply a nimit. What will you get out of believing
simply that? Within you, you should have the feeling, “The Gnani
is everything to me,” otherwise you have not fulfilled this particular
worldly obligation correctly. You have to say, “He will take us to
moksha,” while the Gnani Purush says, “I am a nimit.” This is the
vyavahar (worldly interaction) on both sides.
In reality, this is such an easy path. It is the path of equanimity
where there are no problems. What does the one who shows you
this path and gives you blessings, claim? He simply says, “I am a
nimit.” Look, I do not even wear an elaborate headgear (sign of
reverence and respect) on my head, do I? Otherwise, people go
around wearing such gigantic ‘hats’. Therefore, I am also not even
the giver; I am a nimit. If you go to a doctor, then your illness can
be cured but is it likely to be cured if you go to a carpenter?
Questioner: No.
Dadashri: So whichever nimit you go to, your work will
be done accordingly. By this I mean, if you want to get rid of your
anger, pride, illusion, and greed, if you want to get rid of your
ignorance, then you must go to a Gnani.
The Gnani encompasses all that is necessary for moksha
That is why it is said that you need satsadhan (the one
who is eternal and grants the eternal). What is the satsadhan? It
is that where the satdev (the one with the highest attributes),
satdharma (real religion), and satguru (the one who liberates;
the Gnani guru) are present in one! Truthfully speaking, neither
the scriptures nor the idols are the real tools ( satsadhan). The
Gnani Purush is the only real tool. The satdev, satguru, and
satdharma; the combination of all three is a Gnani Purush! During
the vidhi (special inner spiritual energy invocation for the disciple)
he is the satdev; when he speaks he is the satguru and listening
to him is satdharma; all three are the Gnani. Only this - the Gnani
- should be your deepest devotion ( aradhana). Do not concern
yourself with anything else. Otherwise, you will have to worship
the three separately.
Questioner: In Jainism, there is no such thing as a guru.
Dadashri: No, it is not the way you are saying. The very
foundation of Jainism is based on dev, guru, and dharma; it is
entirely based on satdev, satguru, and satdharma. What did
Lord Mahavir and the twenty-four Tirthankaras say? They said
that the world could not do without a guru. Therefore, when
satdev, satguru, and satdharma are all together, there will be
moksha. Have you heard something like this?
Satdharma is the Lord’s spoken scriptures and agamas
(collection of 45 main Jain Scriptures). Satdharma is there for
sure; we have scriptures that are the Lord’s spoken words, but
without a guru, who can explain them to us? In the current time
cycle, the satguru is not to be found. This is because a
satguru
must have Atma Gnan (Self-knowledge) ; he must be enlightened!
A satguru is definitely needed. If he comes to your house begging
for alms, you should give him something to eat and you in turn
have to go to him to learn. This is how the Lord has arranged it.
Everyone, even an eighty-year-old man, needs a satguru. And
what is satdev? It is the vitarag (the fully enlightened one) Lord.
Now if a Vitarag Lord is not present, you should keep His murti
(idol). But the satguru must be present; his idol will not do.
It is not enough to make a guru in only the mind
Questioner: It is true that one must have a guru. But what
if I make someone my guru in only my mind, will that do?
Dadashri: No, it will not do. If you make a mistake, you
need someone to tell you so. As far as believing through your
mind is concerned, say, for example, you see a girl and you believe

18. The Guru and the Disciple 25 26 The Guru and the Disciple in your mind that she is your wife. Will she really become your
wife? Does it work that way? Does that mean you are married to
her? Will it be acceptable if you do not undergo the rituals of a
marriage ceremony?
Questioner: Say, for example, a guru migrates
permanently to another country and I want to believe in him as
my guru. Can I not keep his photograph and think of him as my
guru?
Dadashri: No, you will not get anywhere doing that. A
guru is someone who shows you the path. A photograph cannot
show you the way so that guru is useless. If you become sick, and
you worship the photograph of a doctor, will your illness go away?
Who is your Guru?
Questioner: Gnan has manifest within you, did you have a
guru too?
Dadashri: I have not met a living guru in this life. Whom
can you call a true guru? A true guru is the one that is living and
present (pratyaksh). Otherwise, all these are merely photographs.
Lord Krishna would be useful if he was living. But people sell his
pictures and people buy the pictures and frame them. In this life, I
have not had the decided experience ‘this is my guru’ about
anyone. One can only be defined a guru if he is living and present
for you, and you absorb his teachings with unmatched intensity
(dharan), such that over a few months there develops a guru-
shishya (master-disciple) relationship. I have not developed a
relationship like that with anyone in this life; I have not met a living
guru in this life.
I had more bhaav (attraction with devotion and reverence)
for Krupadudev (Shrimad Rajchandra), but because he was not
present, I could not accept him as my guru. Whom would I accept
as a guru? The one who is present, the one who gives me direct
aadesh (directives and instructions), the one who gives me
knowledge (updesh); such a person can be regarded as a guru.
Had I met Krupadudev, even for just five minutes, I would have
made him my guru; that is what I had understood. I have not
made anyone my guru. I have done darshan (seen with reverence)
of many other saints, but I will not make anyone my guru until my
heart accepts him. There is no doubt that the saints I had met
were true saints, but acceptance by the heart is also needed.
Respect for the Gurus of the past life
I do not have a guru in this lifetime, but that does not mean
I never had a guru before.
Questioner: So did you have a guru in your previous life?
Dadashri: Without a guru, man cannot progress. For that
matter, no guru has progressed without a guru. What I am saying
is that not a single person has been without a guru.
Questioner: Who was your guru in your previous life?
Dadashri: Whoever he was, he must have been good.
How can I know more about him now?
Questioner: Even Shrimad Rajchandra had a guru, did he
not?
Dadashri: He did not meet a guru in his lifetime. He had
said that if he had met a satguru, he would have followed him
everywhere! His Gnan, however, was real. In his ultimate state,
the Gnan that manifested within him was Atma Gnan.
Questioner: Even the Gnan that manifested in you, did so
without a guru did it not?
Dadashri: I had brought such a karmic account from the
past. In the past I met gurus, I met Gnanis and from them I have
brought forth the merit karmas ( punya). My progress must have
halted due to some mistake on my part. I did not have a guru in
this lifetime, but I must have had one in the previous life. In my

19. The Guru and the Disciple 27 28 The Guru and the Disciple past lifetimes, I must have been with a guru and that is why this
Gnan manifested in this lifetime!
But I had no inkling that such a phenomenal Gnan would
come about. Nevertheless, it exploded completely at Surat Station.
Then it occurred to me what an extraordinary science this was! It
occurred to me that everyone’s punya must have come into fruition;
someone has to become a nimit, right? People began to think,
“This Dada has experienced this Gnan so spontaneously and
easily”, but that is not the case. In my previous life, I had made
someone my guru and this is the result of that. So, nothing can be
accomplished without a guru. The succession of gurus will always
be there.
The Importance of a living Guru
Questioner: Can a guru guide his disciple even though he
is not present?
Dadashri: A guru is only useful if he is living and present
otherwise, he is of no use; then that guru cannot help you. How
can a non-living guru help you? If you have met the guru, if you
have spent ten or fifteen years together with him, if you have served
him for several years and became one with him ( ektaa), you will
still reap some benefit from that guru even if he has passed away.
Otherwise, he is of no use, no matter how hard you try.
Questioner: So the gurus that we have not seen cannot
help us at all?
Dadashri: There will be some benefit. You will gain the
benefit of your concentration of energy ( ekagrata), however, that
benefit will be only worldly in nature. As compared to a non-
living guru, a less-qualified living guru is better.
Questioner: If a guru has taken samadhi (left the world);
can he help us later?
Dadashri: If you had developed a relationship with him
when he was alive, if you had won his love and received his
blessings, then if that guru passes away, it will still be beneficial.
You have to have met him at least once. Those who have not seen
or met a guru will not get their work done and after he dies, then
no matter what you do, even if you bang your head on the
monument of his samadhi, you will attain nothing.
Here images and idols of neither Lord Mahavir nor Lord
Krishna will help you. Only the one who is living and present can
help you. People have worshiped Lord Krishna and Lord Mahavir
for so many lives. Do you think people have ever lacked in their
worship? They have become weary from all their worship. Despite
going to the derasar (Jain temple) every day, they have not attained
dharmadhyan (contemplation or meditation without any adverse
effects, internal or external). And even here there is a time limit.
Medicines too are subject to an expiration date. You are aware
of that, are you not? You know what an expiration date is, don’t
you? That rule is also applicable here. But people keep singing
and chanting the names of those who have already departed long
ago and they do this without any understanding.
Questioner: Why is there so much expectation from and
importance of a living guru?
Dadashri: In the absence of a living guru, nothing can be
attained. Everything will be futile. One will benefit at the relative
worldly level because, for that amount of time, he is involved in
doing good work and thus benefits from it. If a guru were present
here, he would show you your faults and you would remove them.
You do not need a guru when you can see all your faults on your
own. I am the only one in the whole world who can see his faults
and, therefore, do not need a guru. Otherwise, everyone needs
a guru. And, it is pointless singing praise of those that have
departed.
Questioner: So a picture or a murti (idol) cannot be a
substitute for a guru?

20. The Guru and the Disciple 29 30 The Guru and the Disciple
Dadashri: Nothing will work. The pictures do not endorse
anything. Today, if you were to take a picture of Indira Gandhi,
will it have any power to sign any documents? You want the one
that is living today. So today, neither Indira Gandhi nor Jawaharlal
Nehru (both previous Prime Ministers of India) can help. Right
now, only the one in power and present will be able to help you,
no one else can. Only the signature of the one who is present will
be acceptable. Even if you do not have their full signature but just
their initials, it will do, but even if you have the full signature of
Indira Gandhi, it will not do.
Idol worship is indirect worship ( paroksha bhakti)
Questioner: One saint says that we should not depend
upon inert things such as photographs or idols. He said we should
take support from the one who is living and present in front of us.
Dadashri: He is right. If you find a living guru who is good,
then you will feel satisfaction. But, until you find such a guru, you
should do darshan (see with devotion and reverence) of the murti
(that with a form; an idol). The murti is a step; do not let go of it.
Until you attain the amurta (the formless, the Self i.e. the Soul),
do not let go of the murti. The murti will always give the (benefit
of) murta (that which has form). The murti does not give amurta
(the Soul). A thing can only express and bestow its own attributes.
The murti is paroksha bhakti (indirect worship). Even the guru
is indirect worship, but the guru is a quicker vehicle to attain
pratyaksh bhakti - direct worship. He is a living idol. So, you
should go where there is pratyaksh (a living guru). You should do
the darshan of the Lord’s murti; there is nothing wrong in doing
darshan. When we do that, we are expressing our reverence and
we bind merit karma ( punya) in the process. Therefore, in doing
darshan of the murti, our work will move forward, but the murti
will not say anything to you. You need someone to tell you and
show you your mistakes, don’t you? Have you not found anyone
like that yet?
Questioner: No.
Dadashri: So when will you find someone?
Egoism can be stopped only through the living Guru
That is why it is said that you should not be without a
sajeevan murti (an awakened being, the living Gnani). Find
yourself a living Gnani and sit there with him.
If the guru is even two cents better than you are; learn from
him. If you are at the level of twelve cents and he is at the level of
fourteen cents, then sit with him. Those who have departed will
not return to show you your mistakes. Only the living guru can
show you your faults.
That is why Krupadudev said,
“Sajeevan murti na laksha vagar jey kai pan karvama
avey chhe tey jiva ney bandhan chhe. Aa amaru hridaya chhe. ”
“Without your exclusive focus on the living Gnani, whatever
you do will bind you. These words represent my heart.”
This one sentence itself explains everything because without
the living Gnani, whatever you do is swachhand (actions guided
by one’s own ego). Swachhand can only be prevented in the
presence of a living guru, not otherwise.
Questioner: It has also been said that if one does not have
contact with a living satguru (Gnani), then he can take the words
of those who have become satgurus
and use them as a support
to do purusharth (independent spiritual effort ); this too has been
said. Is this true or not?
Dadashri: That is what they are doing! And when they
attain the Self, you will notice their ‘fever’ has come down! When
one becomes Self-realized, can you not tell that his ‘fever’ has
gone down? Can you not tell the difference between a state with
fever and a state without fever? Would you not know whether

21. The Guru and the Disciple 31 32 The Guru and the Disciple there has been a change in the way one sees things? Samkit means
a change in vision! There is always a rare exception. Some people
are an exception to this rule, but we are not talking about exceptions
here. We are talking about that which is applicable to all.
Questioner: Can a person attain the ultimate, using the
words of the satguru as a support?
Dadashri: He will gain nothing out of that! Then you might
as well get rid of Krupadudev’s statement, “Without your exclusive
focus on the living Gnani, whatever you do will bind you. These
words represent my heart.” What a phenomenal statement! Still,
there is nothing wrong in what people are doing. If you tell someone
what he is doing is wrong, and that he will not attain moksha by
what he is doing, then he is likely to get on the wrong path, and
start gambling. So he is better off doing what he is doing now. But
follow the directions of Krupadudev. Look for a living Gnani!
Krupadudev keeps reiterating the cardinal statement that
one should not do anything without a living guru or a Gnani. To do
so, is nothing but swachhand! The person that moves ahead on
his own will and understanding will never attain moksha because
there is no one above him to point out his mistakes. What is it
called, when there is no guru or a Gnani above you? It is called
swachhand (actions and interpretations guided by one’s intellect
and ego)! Whosever’s swachhand has ceased, will attain moksha.
Otherwise, moksha cannot be attained.
The best thing to do is to ask the guru, but where can you
find such a guru in these times? Instead of that, it will also work if
you make anyone else your guru. If he is wiser than you are and
he takes care of you, and you have faith in him and you feel at
peace there and your heart accepts him, then establish him as
your guru and stay with him. If he has a few shortcomings, tolerate
them. When you yourself are full of so many faults and he has just
a few, why do you judge him? He is higher than you are and
therefore, he will take you higher. It is a huge mistake to judge him.
Until you attain samyak darshan - the enlightened view,
right vision - your swachhand will not leave. Alternatively, there
is a way out if you act according to the directions of the guru,
however, you have to act completely and wholly according to the
guru’s instructions. It is a different matter altogether if a person
conducts himself with total surrender to his guru. Even if the guru
is not Self-realized, there is nothing wrong in that. And if the disciple
lives completely according to the guru, then his swachhand will
go. Krupadudev had written a lot of truth but even that is difficult
to explain! How is it possible to understand as long as one’s
swachhand prevails? And is it an easy thing for swachhand to
depart?
Questioner: So until one meets a Gnani, his swachhand
will not leave?
Dadashri: No. However, even if one makes a crazy,
happy-go-lucky person his guru, and always maintains humility as
a disciple and never falters in his duties as a disciple, then his
swachhand will leave. Yet people have opposed their gurus and
yelled abuses at them. Man does not have the capacity to maintain
such continuous respect, because when he sees something amiss
in the guru, his intellect begins to act up!
If you do not find a Gnani, then you will need a guru. If not,
then you are likely to walk around with swachhand. If you let go
of the string of the kite, what will become of that kite?
Questioner: It will stumble and not fly.
Dadashri: Yes, so this is similar to letting go of the string of
a kite. As long as you do not have the Soul in your hand i.e. Self-
realization, you do not have the string of the kite in your hands.
Do you understand?
Your head bows naturally to the One who dissolves all egos
Questioner: Yes, I should make someone my guru. Without
a guru, Gnan cannot be attained. This principle is correct.

22. The Guru and the Disciple 33 34 The Guru and the Disciple
Dadashri: That is correct. Now, guru is an adjective. The
word guru is not itself guru. It is guru through the adjective of
guru; for example, with certain adjectives, one is a guru, and with
certain adjectives, one is a God!
Questioner: What are the qualities of a true guru?
Dadashri: The true guru is one that has love and is beneficial
to you. Where can you find such real gurus? Such a guru is one
where just at the mere sight of him, your whole body will bow
down in reverence, spontaneously without a thought. That is why
they sing:
‘Who can be called a guru? It is the one whose very
sight makes our heads bow.’
Just upon seeing him, our head will bow. That is the definition
of a guru. That is why if one is a guru, then he must be such that he
dissolves all egos. Then you can attain liberation, but not otherwise.
The Guru that fills your eyes and rests your heart
Questioner: Then there is the question, ‘Whom should I
make my guru?’
Dadashri: Where your heart rests; make that person your
guru. Do not call him your guru until your heart becomes
completely still. That is why I have said if you make someone
your guru; make sure it is someone whose image does not leave
your ‘eyes’.
Questioner: What do you mean by ‘does not leave your
eyes’?
Dadashri: When a young man wants to get married, he
goes to look at different young women. He will meet and see
many girls. What is he looking for? He is looking for the kind of
woman who would be acceptable in every way. If she is fat, she
will feel heavy to his eyes. If she is very skinny then he feels hurt;
he understands by looking into her eyes. So what do we mean by
‘a guru that does not leave your eyes?’ It means that he is
acceptable to your eyes in every way. His speech fits you; it is
tailor-made for you, his conduct also fits. This is the kind of guru
you need!
Questioner: Yes, that is correct. The total dependence
(ashritpanu) on the guru demands such qualities.
Dadashri: Yes, if ever a guru is such that he can dwell in
your heart and you like everything he says, then you can become
dependent on him. Thereafter you will be free from all suffering.
A guru is a very big phenomenon. With him, you should feel that
you are at peace and that you have come home and your heart
rests there. Just by looking at him, you forget the world, you
become oblivious to the world; such a person can be made a
guru. Otherwise, the guru loses his worth and importance.
Without a gurukilli he will sink
Guru is very important. The problems with gurus nowadays
are due to the effect of this era of the current time cycle. It is due
to the current difficult time of the cycle that the gurus have no
substance. The gurus have become like vegetable ghee (real ghee
is made from butter)! That is why your work does not get
accomplished! And the gurus today are going around without a
gurukilli (special directives from a Gnani on how to be a guru).
One man came to me and said to me, ‘You are our guru.’ I replied,
‘No young man, don’t call me your guru. I do not like it. What is
the meaning of a guru? Go and ask everywhere.’ Does guru mean
light or heavy?
Questioner: It means heavy.
Dadashri: Heavy, therefore he is bound to sink. When he
sinks, everyone else who depends on him will also drown along
with him. That is what has been happening in the world. So why
are you making a guru out of me? That is why you must ask the

23. The Guru and the Disciple 35 36 The Guru and the Disciple guru, ‘guru maharaj, do you have a master key that will prevent
me from drowning? You are heavy so you will definitely drown
and you will take me down with you too. Do you have a master
key (gurukilli)? If you are not the type that will drown then I shall
sit with you.’ If he says, ‘yes’ then you should sit.
Questioner: No one would admit that he is the kind of
guru who would drown, would he?
Dadashri: Yes, but if you tell him ‘Sir it appears that you
lack intelligence,’ if you say only this much to him, you will find
out immediately whether he is someone who will sink you or not.
Otherwise, all gurus without the master key have sunk. They
sank themselves and their disciples along with them. There is no
telling where it will lead. If the guru has the master key, then he
will not sink. In the past, the gurus of the gurus would pass down
this key; they would pass this key on to each succeeding guru.
What would these gurus tell their disciples? They told them they
could become gurus but they should keep ‘this’ master key with
them. Only then will they not drown themselves and others. So
now I am asking these gurus whether they have the key or not.
And they ask me, ‘What kind of a key?’ That is it! You can tell
right away that they do not have the master key. That is why they
are still wandering! Do not let just anyone be your guru. They
have forgotten the master key. There is no master key to begin
with. This is Kaliyug and so people will drown for sure. This was
not the case in the past time cycle of Satyug.
Questioner: But the guru is a savior; he will not drown us.
Dadashri: No, but only if he has the master key can he
stay afloat and help others do the same. If the guru does not have
a master key, then you are in trouble. People will praise him and
flatter him and it will go to his head. Then his mind will explode
and he will become inflated with ego. Don’t you think people
praise me? Therefore, it is only useful when you have a master
key. A master key is a tool the guru has that will not allow him to
sink. It is a key, an understanding, which their gurus give them
confidentially. The great gurus, the Gnani Purush, give this key
confidentially; they give this key in the form of understanding, which
tells them, ‘If you work with your disciples in this way, you will
not sink and neither will anyone else.’
Questioner: In order to become a guru you need a master
key, so what is that master key?
Dadashri: The Gnani Purush gives him an understanding
and an assessment of what he is. The Gnani tells him, ‘You are not
a guru. You are a guru only by name. You are nameless ( anami).
Remain laghutam (smallest of the small) and then be a guru—
then you will stay afloat and keep others afloat.’ These people
don’t even have a master key and yet they proclaim themselves
as gurus. One should attain the understanding; one should attain
the master key from the Gnani Purush then there will be a safe
side for him and his followers.
People ask me, ‘What are you?’ So I tell them, “I am a
Laghutam Purush. There is no other living being smaller than me
in this world.” Now, can such a laghutam person sink in any
way?
Questioner: No, he cannot.
Dadashri: Laghutam! It means one may feel the lightweight
of the guru, but he will not sink. And if others sit with me, they will
not sink because the Gnani Purush himself is laghutam, and is
experienced and therefore he can take everyone to the other side.
He has swum across the ocean of the worldly life and is completely
capable of helping others do the same.
The Difference between a guru and a Gnani
Questioner: Please explain the difference between a guru
and a Gnani Purush?

24. The Guru and the Disciple 37 38 The Guru and the Disciple
Dadashri: There is a big difference between the Gnani
Purush and the guru! The guru is always for the worldly life. Without
a Gnani Purush, there is no liberation. The guru takes us further in
the worldly life and he makes us just the way he is. Other than
this, he cannot give you anything more. And liberation is what the
Gnani Purush gives. Therefore, you need a guru for the worldly
interaction, but for liberation ( nischay), you need the Gnani Purush.
You need them both.
What does the guru do? He studies further and he continues
to teach those who follow him. I am a Gnani Purush; it is not my
business to learn and teach. If you want moksha (liberation), then
I will give you all the solutions; I will simply change your vision.
Whatever bliss I have attained, I make others attain that very bliss
and then I move aside.
The guru gives gnan and the Gnani gives Vignan, i.e. the
guru gives knowledge and the Gnani gives the Absolute Science.
Knowledge will make you bind punya in the worldly life and will
show you the path. The science will take you to moksha. A guru
is a teacher of a kind. He has adopted certain principles himself
and his speech is good, so he brings others into discipline. He
cannot do anything else; however, people become happier in the
worldly life because they enter into a discipline. And the Gnani Purush
will take you to moksha because he has the license for moksha.
There is nothing wrong in having a worldly guru. We ought
to have a worldly guru whom we can follow. But the Gnani cannot
be called a guru. The Gnani is the supreme Soul in a human form.
He is not the owner of his body, mind, or speech.
The guru too, has to go to the Gnani Purush because within
him there are weaknesses of anger, pride, deceit, and greed; there
is ego and ‘my-ness ( mamata)’ in him. If you offer him a gift, he
will make you put it inside quietly. There is ego and ‘my-ness’
wherever you look; it is bound to be there! But people do need
gurus also!
Pure gurus are needed
Questioner: Does that mean that I need a guru that has no
inner inclinations towards attraction?
Dadashri: Yes, you need a guru who is free from aasakti
(inner weakness inclined towards attractions that arise from within).
Of what use is he, if he is tempted by money or anything else? He
has the same disease as we do; both have a disease. The only
guru that is useful, is the one who has no inner inclinations and
temptations.
There is nothing wrong even if the guru eats fritters or ladoos
(sweets) every day; all you have to do is determine whether he
has any aasakti. Some gurus may subsist on just milk alone, but
all you have to worry about is whether he has any inner attraction.
These gurus nowadays have demonstrated all kinds of mischief,
‘I don’t eat this, I don’t eat that.’ Oh just let go of your nonsense!
Just go and eat. Are you not eating because you don’t get any
food? They are simply being grandiose. It is a kind of a display
board that says, ‘I don’t eat this, and I don’t do that.’ They keep
such boards in order to entice people toward them. I have seen
many such ‘boards’ in India. Nevertheless, you need a guru without
inner inclination and attraction. Then you do not have to worry
about whether he eats special things or not.
He that has the slightest inner temptation is not going to be
useful as a guru. The whole world is in a state of destruction
because people found gurus with inner designs and attraction.
One can be called a guru provided he does not have this disease
of temptation. The slightest of temptation is intolerable here.
A guru with some weaknesses is acceptable
Questioner: The state of a guru is mysterious. To know
him well one needs some prior experience about him. Otherwise,
one cannot tell from the external pomp and ostentations.

25. The Guru and the Disciple 39 40 The Guru and the Disciple
Dadashri: If you live with him for a fortnight or so, then
you would be able to see his impatience and agitation. If he is
easily agitated and unstable, you will not gain any benefits. He
should be stable and patient.
Moreover, he should not have a single atom of kashayas –
inner weakness of anger, pride, deceit, and greed – within him.
We can even make do if his kashayas are mild. However, if his
kashayas are very strong, and we too have kashayas within us,
what can we attain there? Therefore, you cannot make a guru
who is full of kashayas. If you annoy him a little, and he shows
you his ‘fangs,’ then you cannot have him as a guru. You can
make someone your guru as long as he has no kashayas or if his
kashayas have diminished significantly. Diminished kashaya
means he can turn things around without expressing kashayas. It
means he turns everything around before he experiences anger,
indicating control over his kashayas. Such a guru will do. A Gnani
Purush, on the other hand has no kashayas; He has no anger,
pride, deceit or greed because He remains detached. He remains
separate from the complex of body, mind and speech!
Who is a Satguru?
Questioner: Now whom can we call a ‘satguru’?
Dadashri: It is very difficult to define and identify someone
as a satguru. In the language of the scriptures, whom can you call
a satguru? Sat is the Atma (the Soul, the Self), so whoever has
attained the Soul, that guru is a satguru!
Therefore, an ‘Atmagnani (knower of the Soul, Self-
realized) can be called a satguru, for he has experienced the
Self. Not all gurus have Atma Gnan. So, the one who continuously
remains as the eternal element – the Self - is a satguru! The Gnani
Purush is a satguru.’
Questioner: Shrimad Rajchandra has said that without a
living and directly present satguru, one can never attain moksha.
Dadashri: Yes, moksha cannot occur without such a One.
And what should a satguru be like? He must be free of all
kashayas. Even if we hit him and yell abuses at him, he would still
not have any kashaya. Not only is he free of kashaya but his
intellect (buddhi) should also be completely gone. He should not
have any intellect. If you go to people with intellect, how will you
attain moksha when they have not attained it themselves? So he
should not be affected whether you slap him or yell abuses at him.
If you beat him or throw him in jail, he should remain unperturbed.
He should be beyond all dualities. Do you understand what we
mean by ‘duality’? By duality we mean attributes such as profit or
loss; pleasure or pain; mercy or mercilessness. In duality, if there
is one attribute within, the other attribute will always be there too.
That is duality! So the guru who is free of duality, is a satguru.
In the current time cycle, there are no satgurus. During
certain times, in some places they can be, but otherwise satgurus
do not exist. But people have wrongly assumed that their gurus
as being satgurus. That is why everything is at a standstill;
otherwise, if you had found a true satguru, would you have all
these worries?
There is a great difference between a Guru and a
Satguru
Questioner: Everyone nowadays regards his guru as a
satguru. What is that?
Dadashri: In all the religions in India, people consider their
own respective guru as being a satguru. No one uses the term
guru alone; they use the term satguru but its meaning is in the
worldly language. In the worldly life, people refer to a guru with
very high conduct as a satguru, but really, he cannot be considered
a satguru. The quality of his prakruti (worldly attributes) may be
very commendable, he may have inner balance in matters of food,
worldly interaction and personal character, but he has not attained
Self-realization. Without Self-realization he cannot be called a
satguru.

26. The Guru and the Disciple 41 42 The Guru and the Disciple
It is like this; there are two kinds of gurus. One is in the
form of a guide, meaning we have to follow him. He walks ahead
like a leader or a monitor. He is called a ‘guru’. Do you understand
the term ‘monitor’? It is someone we follow. If we come to a fork
in the road, he will decide, ‘No, not this road. Let us take that
road.’ So we walk on that road. You have to follow him, but he is
always in front of us. He does not sway from the route.
The other is a satguru. A satguru is someone that liberates
us from all our worldly suffering, because he is liberated himself!
He does not keep us as his followers. And the guru is someone
we have to trust and keep following. There you must not use your
own brain and wisdom and you must stay sincere to the guru. The
degree to which you are sincere with him is the degree of peace
you will experience.
The need for a guru starts from the time we begin school to
the time we reach the door of spirituality. A guru can take us all
the way to spirituality but we cannot enter into the gate of Atma
Gnan (knowledge of the Self) with the guidance of a guru since he
himself is looking for it. What is Atma Gnan? Atma Gnan is to be
in front of the Self. The satguru helps bring us directly in front of
the Self.
So there is a difference between a guru and a satguru!
The meditation within a guru and a Satguru
People have not understood the term ‘guru’. People in India
have not understood whom to call a guru! People refer to anyone
wearing saffron colored robes as a guru. If one quotes even a few
words from the scriptures, people call him a guru; but that is not a
guru.
One man told me, ‘I have made someone my guru,’ so I
asked him to explain to me what his guru was like. Anyone who
does not have artadhyan or raudradhyan is a guru, ( Artadhyan
- adverse internal contemplation due to presence of kashaya that
are contained within, which hurts only him. Raudradhyan - adverse
internal contemplation due to kashaya within that spill over and
hurts him as well as others). Unless a person has these
qualifications, it is a mistake laden with liability ( guno) to call one
a guru. You can call him a ‘ sadhu maharaj,’ (sadhu - a monk.
Maharaj - master) you can call him a ‘ tyagi’ (someone who has
renounced the worldly life), but to call him a guru is a mistake
laden with liability. Otherwise, if you want to understand the word
guru from the worldly perspective, then you can even call a lawyer,
a guru; from the worldly perspective, everyone is a guru!
Any guru that can bring us into dharmadhyan (absence of
artadhyan and raudradhyan) can be called a guru. Who is
capable of making others attain dharmadhyan? It is someone
who can stop people from having artadhyan and raudradhyan;
he can make people do dharmadhyan. If a guru does not have
any raudradhyan when someone insults him, then you should
know that he is worthy of being your guru. If, today, he does not
get any food but he does not have any artadhyan, then know he
is worthy of being your guru.
Questioner: If he does not have artadhyan and
raudradhyan, then is he not a satguru?
Dadashri: A satguru is someone who is a representative
of the Lord, the fully enlightened One. If he is liberated, then he is
a satguru. The guru has yet to discharge all kinds of karmas and
the satguru has already discharged many of his karmas. So the
one who does not have artadhyan and raudradhyan is a guru
and the one who gives you moksha in your hand is a
satguru. It is
difficult to find a satguru, but if you find a guru, that is also very
good.
Ultimate Salvation at the Feet of the Satguru
Questioner: Then should we take shelter from a guru or a
satguru?

27. The Guru and the Disciple 43 44 The Guru and the Disciple
Dadashri: If you find a satguru, there is nothing better,
but if you do not find a satguru then you should at least have a
guru. A Bheda-Vignani is a spiritual scientist that has the
experiential knowledge that keeps the Self and the non-Self
separate, is a satguru.
Questioner: So do we need a guru first or a satguru?
Dadashri: If there is a guru, only then can one get on the
path! However, if you find a satguru then you will attain salvation
(liberation).Then it is immaterial whether you find a guru or not
because the satguru will give everyone salvation. If you find a
guru, and follow his instructions, it will not take you long because
you will have fewer negative qualities. But should you be graced
by the touch of the satguru’s hand, you will attain salvation.
Questioner: Are there people who have really attained
the sat, the eternal, the Self?
Dadashri: There cannot be any. In this era of the current
time cycle, such people are very rare; they may be in some place,
somewhere. Otherwise, they do not exist. Where would you find
such a person? If there were to be such a person, would this
world not have blossomed? Would there not be Light everywhere?
Questioner: Then how can one escape the cycles of birth
and death without a satguru?
Dadashri: Yes, it is because there is no satguru around
that all this has come to a halt! There is no meaningful progress.
Questioner: What is Shrimad saying when he says to
surrender and follow a satguru so that one will attain moksha in
the ninth life?
Dadashri: It is difficult to find a satguru. That satguru
would be difficult to find here. It is not easy to find a satguru. The
satguru is a Gnani. You can have a guru, who is not a Gnani, but
he does not have the necessary understanding, whereas the Gnani
will give you samaj – complete understanding. He would explain
all the facts. The one who has nothing more left to know is called
a Gnani! It is not as if he knows only about the Jain religion; he
knows everything and that is why he is called a Gnani ! And if you
were to meet him, you would attain moksha after nine lives, in fact
you can even attain moksha after two more lives!
But it is difficult to find a satguru! Nowadays, there are no
real gurus around so how can you find a satguru here? And when
a satguru like Shrimad Rajchandra was living and present, people
did not recognize him.
Only after recognizing the Satguru can you take shelter
from Him
Questioner: How can one recognize such a satguru?
Dadashri: Such a person is easily recognizable just like a
bright glowing light. He emits a ‘fragrance,’ a spiritual presence
that is quite widespread around him.
Questioner: But how is one to recognize a satguru? How
are we to know that he is a real satguru?
Dadashri: It is like this; if you were an expert, you would
be able to make an assessment with your trained eyes. Some of
the qualities of a satguru are that his speech, behavior and humility
will conquer your mind; he will captivate your mind. You would
be filled with wonder and admiration for him! Your mind will
continue to remain captivated.
Questioner:
Many times, people’s commitment and minds
become swayed when they look at the worldly interactions of a
guru or the satguru, so what should one do there?
Dadashri: If observing the worldly interaction of your guru
sways your commitment to him, then you must investigate in detail
whether your doubts have a basis or whether they are unfounded.
Measure the situation from every angle as far as you can, with

28. The Guru and the Disciple 45 46 The Guru and the Disciple your intellect. In spite of that, if you still do not feel comfortable,
then without aggravating him you should find another ‘shop’. With
this approach, some day you will find the real one.
Questioner: But without our own progress, how can we
recognize the satguru?
Dadashri: You should tell him from the beginning, ‘Sir, I
have no desire for a business relationship with you. I want
liberation. So if you are liberated, can I come and sit by you and
serve you?’ Is there anything wrong in saying this? But does anyone
say, ‘I will give you liberation?’ Then there is no need for a witness.
You should immediately clarify with him, ‘I will stay with you for
six months and I will do as you tell me to. If by then I have not
gained any benefits, I will leave.’ But no one says anything like
this. In this world, not one person will utter such a thing. What is
wrong in asking, “Sahib, if you are liberated, please tell me so? I
want liberation too. I cannot afford any other ‘stations’. I have no
need for the ‘middle station’.” You should be up front and clear.
Then he will say, ‘Son, I am myself at the middle station.’ Then
you would understand that you do not need the middle station.
You will only find the right place if you search in this way, otherwise
you will not find it. You should ask him respectfully. It is because
we have sat in places without asking that we have wandered for
countless lives until now. If that sahib lives in the middle station,
and we too live there, what good does it do?
Questioner: So how can knowledge from books help us
find a satguru?
Dadashri: It would not be useful. That is the reason for all
this wandering. For infinite lives, we have followed the knowledge
in books, and even then we have wandered and wandered. To
find a satguru is a big deal. However, the one that desires liberation
will get everything. The desire to become free must be there. Those
who desire fame and want to be worshipped by people take longer;
they have to wander for many lives. Do you understand what
their desire is? It is the desire for recognition, fame and importance.
People call out to them, ‘Come in sir, please come in, come in!’
When people address them in this way, they taste the sweetness
of getting respect. That is called garvaras (the sweet juice of
doer ship), people feed them, and they keep tasting it! The pleasure
of tasting that sweetness is incomparable!
The fact that you find a Satguru means you qualify!
Questioner: Once we find a satguru, do we not have to
continue our spiritual seeking ( sadhana) under his instructions?
Dadashri: There is an end to spiritual seeking. Your efforts
to seek should be for six to twelve months. It should not take
forty-fifty years!
Questioner: That depends on the seeker’s qualifications.
Dadashri: There is no need for qualification. If you find a
satguru, then there is no need for qualifications. And if you have
not found a satguru, then you need to qualify! If the satguru has
a B.A. (Bachelor of Arts), then that is the level of his qualification,
and if he has a B.A., B.T. (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor in Teaching)
then that would be the level of his qualification. Your qualification
is not needed in this.
Questioner: No, I am not talking about worldly
qualifications. But are there not qualifications for one’s spiritual
advancement?
Dadashri: No, once you meet the satguru there is no need
for any qualification. The fact that you meet a satguru is in itself,
your highest punya (merit karma effect).
Questioner: But after meeting the satguru, is there no
need for any spiritual effort? Is everything done solely through the
satguru?
Dadashri: No, you only need to carry out the instructions

29. The Guru and the Disciple 47 48 The Guru and the Disciple of progress in the spiritual path that he gives you; there is no need
to qualify. Those with qualification feel in their mind, ‘Of course I
understand everything anyway!’ On the contrary, qualification
increases one’s keyf (intoxication); therefore, qualifications cause
one to have an intoxicated ego of ‘knowing’. Indeed, if one has
any qualifications, they should be qualifications that are worth
keeping. A person should understand that if he has any element of
an intoxication of ‘I know’, then he must get rid of it. Intoxicated
ego is what gets in the way of having the qualifications and meeting
a satguru. ‘Qualified’ people are usually reserved and they keep
their distance, whereas those with lesser qualifications will always
say, ‘Sahib, I have no common sense. I am putting everything on
you. I am now in your hands. You find a solution.’ Then the satguru
becomes happy. That is all you need to say. The satguru does
not ask for anything else, nor does he look for any other
qualifications.
Complete Surrender to the Satguru
Questioner: One should be devoted only to the satguru,
is that what you are saying?
Dadashri: Total surrender to the satguru is needed.
Questioner: What if one remains with total surrender to
the satguru?
Dadashri: Then the work is done. If you have the intent of
complete surrender, then all your work will be done and nothing
else will remain. However, that surrender needs to be of the mind,
speech and body.
Questioner: Such surrender is only effective and worthy if
done to someone of the caliber of Lord Krishna or Lord Mahavir,
correct? Alternatively, is it acceptable to surrender even to an
ordinary person?
Dadashri: If you find a Virat Purush – a person who
dissolve your ego; then you should surrender to him. If you feel
that he is a great man and all his deeds are outstanding, then you
should surrender to him.
Questioner: If we surrender to the great souls that lived
thousand of years ago, can that be considered surrender? Can
we make any progress through such surrender or do we need to
surrender to a living great man?
Dadashri: You can progress even through paroksha
(indirectly- one not currently living). However if you find such a
living (pratyaksh) person, then your liberation will be instant. The
indirect approach will give you the benefit of progress but there is
no liberation without meeting the living great human being.
After surrendering, you do not have to do anything else. If
a child is born to us, the child does not have to do anything. In the
same way, after surrendering, you do not have to do anything.
To whomever you surrender your intellect; you will attain
the energies of that person. If you have surrendered, then you will
attain everything of his. Just as we join two tanks with a pipe, then
no matter how much water is in one tank, the other tank will bear
the same level of water. That is the power of samarpan (surrender
of the mind speech and the body).
He that has attained moksha himself and who sets out to
give moksha to others is the only one that can give moksha. I
have set out to give the gift of moksha, therefore, I can give
moksha. Otherwise, no one else can give the gift of moksha.
Questioner: Is the satguru not relative?
Dadashri: Satguru is relative, but the Gnan that the
satguru gives is real. With the real, the bliss of the Self begins,
which is the ultimate happiness. ‘Real’ means permanent and
‘relative’ means temporary. The relative happiness is temporary
and is limited only to the mind.

30. The Guru and the Disciple 49 50 The Guru and the Disciple
Questioner: So does that not mean that the satguru
entertains the mind?
Dadashri: Of course! If the satguru has Gnan, then He is
an instrument for the attainment of the bliss of the Self, and if he
does not have Gnan, then he is an instrument to give happiness to
the mind. If the satguru is an Atma Gnani, then he would be an
instrument for the attainment of the bliss of the Atma. If the satguru
is an Atma Gnani, then you will never forget Him. Then He is real
and if not, you would not even think about the satguru.
Questioner: ‘When one surrenders his all to the real guru,
all the work is accomplished.’ How true is this statement from the
perspective of the worldly life?
Dadashri: This is completely true for the worldly life. If
you surrender to a guru, then your one life will go without problems
and impediments. Why? Because you surrendered to the guru
and that means you follow the guru’s agnas, so you will not
suffer.
The results of the Guru’s grace
Questioner: When you speak about the guru and the guru’s
grace, a question arises in my mind about ‘what is the guru’s
grace?’ Is there any reality or substance to it?
Dadashri: Whatever energies (shakti) there are, they are
all with substance and reality; they do not lack substance. They
are all energies and energies always last for a certain amount of
time, a certain number of years, and then they melt away.
Questioner: What should a disciple do in order to attain
the grace of the guru?
Dadashri: In order to attain the guru’s grace, all the disciple
has to do is keep the guru happy. Do whatever makes him happy.
If you keep him happy, then grace will be there for sure. But how
much grace can you attain? Your grace is dependent on whatever
is in the ‘tank’. Whatever amount is in the tank, you can attain that
level. What is ‘ krupa-drashti’? When the disciple does what the
guru asks, it keeps the guru happy and that is called ‘ krupa-
drashti’. If the disciple does just the opposite, then the guru will
be displeased.
Questioner: So does the guru’s grace not fall on everyone?
Dadashri: No, the grace may not be on some people. If a
disciple does something wrong, he may not have the guru’s grace.
Questioner: So how can we call him a guru? Everyone
should be the same in the eyes of the guru.
Dadashri: Yes, that should be the case, but if a man is
doing something wrong with the guru, then what can the guru do?
Now if it were a Gnani, then his grace is the same on everyone.
But in the case of a guru, if you do something wrong, he may
‘vomit’ all over you!
Questioner: It is not acceptable that the guru graces one
person and not another. Surely, the guru always has equal grace
for everyone, does he not?
Dadashri: No, but whatever is within one, each person
receives his or her own fruit. If you do something wrong, you will
receive the wrong fruit. The Gnani Purush however, is a vitarag
(one who is enlightened and free from all worldly attachments).
Even if you were to slap him, he will not break his vision of
equanimity towards you. If you hurl insults towards the Gnani,
that insult will return to you multiplied a hundred fold! And if you
offer him one flower, you will receive a hundred in return.
Does the ego go with grace or purusharth (self-effort)?
Questioner: In order to be free of the ego, does one need
his own spiritual efforts or the grace of a guru?
Dadashri: You need grace. You need the kind of satguru

31. The Guru and the Disciple 51 52 The Guru and the Disciple whose ego has gone. Only then will the ego go away. It is not a
guru’s job to destroy the ego; it is a task for the Gnani. Where
would the guru get that kind of knowledge? His own ego has not
left. When even his ‘my-ness’ ( mamata) has not left him, how
and when will his ego go? When he meets the Gnani Purush, in
whom there is no trace of buddhi (intellect), only in front of such
a Gnani will the ego leave.
Questioner: Can charging of karmas be destroyed in this
time cycle of Kaliyug through the guru?
Dadashri: They cannot be destroyed by the guru; for that
we need a Gnani Purush; a Bheda-Vignani (spiritual scientist who
can separate Self and the non-self)! A Bheda-Vignani in whom
there is no ego or intellect. Such a person can destroy your karma.
And since the guru has an ego, nothing like this can be accomplished
by him.
Questioner: Even the scriptures say, know that which is
gurugamya - know the gnan that has manifested within the guru.
Dadashri: Yes, but what do we mean by gurugamya? It
is only gurugamya when you can ‘see’ the Soul, otherwise many
are wandering around with gurugamya. Gurugamya is only worth
it if it allows you the experience of your real Self. Such a person is
beyond all agamas (Jain scriptures), if you find such a Gnani
Purush, then you will attain gurugamya.
The gurumantra will not allow you to slip!
Questioner: In every religion, the guru gives every disciple
a gurumantra (a mantra given by the guru). What is that?
Dadashri: It is done so that people will not fall or slip
(spiritually or religiously). If a disciple hangs on to the gurumantra,
then he will not slip, but it has nothing to do with moksha.
Questioner: If a guru gives namsmaran (chanting of a
particular name), is that not better than the namsmaran given by
an ordinary person? Is the power not greater when the guru gives
it?
Dadashri: If it is given, then it will yield good fruits. It is all
dependant upon what type of guru one is; it is all dependent upon
the guru.
It is beneficial to meditate on a Guru
Questioner: Some gurus tell their disciples to meditate on
them. Is that acceptable or not?
Dadashri: The meditation is done not for the guru’s
happiness, but for the disciple’s concentration and peace. But
what should the guru be like? He should be such that he would
remain significantly in one’s meditation.
Questioner: But is it proper to meditate on the satguru or
on some other God?
Dadashri: You do not know God so how will you meditate
on him? Instead, you should meditate on the guru. At least you
are able to see his face. In this case, it is better to do meditation of
the satguru because you cannot ‘see’ God. Meditation on God
will happen only after I make you realize Him. Until then, meditate
on whichever satguru you happen to pick. Once I show you
God, you will not have to do that. As long as you have to ‘ do’
something, whether it is meditation or anything else, you will be
subject to wandering in the life-death cycle. Meditation must be
natural and spontaneous ( sahaj). ‘Sahaj’ means that you do not
have to do anything – it just happens naturally by itself. Then,
know that You are liberated.
Shaktipat or Atma Gnan
Questioner: What is the ritual involved in the phenomenon
of shaktipat (transfer of relative energy) that some gurus practice?
How does it benefit the disciple? Is it a siddhi
(special power;
special energy) such that it becomes a shortcut to Atma Gnan?

32. The Guru and the Disciple 53 54 The Guru and the Disciple
Dadashri: You want to attain Atma Gnan only, is that right?
You only need Atma Gnan, correct? Then there is no need for
shaktipat in that. Has your energy diminished? If so then take a
vitamin!
Questioner: No, no, the shaktipat that gurus perform,
what kind of kriya (action) is that?
Dadashri: Say there is a five-foot wide stream and a person
cannot jump over it. He keeps falling in it. So then you tell him,
‘Hey! Go ahead and jump over it, I am right behind you.’ Then he
will be able to jump it. So a guru gives encouragement in this way.
What else can he do? Have you lost your courage?
Questioner: Without a guru, one’s courage is bound to
break!
Dadashri: So ask the guru to give you courage. And if the
guru is not willing to do that, then come to me. If the guru remains
pleased with you, and encourages you, then do not come to me.
In this world, one only needs guru’s rajipo (to please the guru).
What does the guru want to take with him? He is only concerned
about how to give you happiness. His aim is that you attain the
Self, some how or other.
Questioner: I ask this question because many gurus do
shaktipat.
Dadashri: That is fine. I know that they do it, but up to
what point is it necessary? Those gurus move away after they do
shaktipat; they do not stay with you or give you support until the
end. What good is that? The one that gives you support and
accompanies you all the way, is your guru.
Questioner: Should we go to a guru that performs
miracles?
Dadashri: Anyone that has lalacha (insatiable greed)
should go there and the guru will fulfill that greed. The one who
wants to know the reality, the Self, does not need to go there. By
performing miracles, such gurus pacify human beings. But
intellectual people will become skeptical the moment they see such
things.
How far can the guru take you?
There are two paths: the Kramic path in which a person
progresses one step at a time and the Akram path, which is the
elevator path. In the latter, you do not have to do anything. In the
Kramic path, which involves climbing steps (one has to make
penitent efforts), however many gurus you follow, those gurus
will help you climb. In this path, even the gurus make progress
and so do the disciples. By doing this continuously, they reach the
end.
It is only when the vision changes (one acquires the right
vision - samyak drashti), that it turns into a relationship of a true
guru and a true disciple. Until then everything is at a kindergarten
level. One is allowed to have moha (a lot of fondness) for the
guru, but there should be no aasakti (attraction) leading to raag
(attachment). Such attraction is very wrong. It is never acceptable!
Questioner: If one has moha for the guru, would he stop
us or not?
Dadashri: Your moha should only be to the point of, ‘He
is working for my salvation.’ Someone may say, ‘What if there is
unwavering faith in the guru?’ There is nothing wrong with that.
That is good. The guru will take you at least as far as he has
reached himself. Whomever you worship, he will take you as far
as he has reached himself.
Questioner: He will take me only as far as he has reached?
Dadashri: Yes, our scriptures say that he will take you
only as far as he has reached. The guru will help you climb as
many steps as he has climbed himself. If he has climbed ten steps

33. The Guru and the Disciple 55 56 The Guru and the Disciple and you have climbed seven, then he will help you climb up to the
tenth step. In fact, there are millions of steps to climb. There are
not just a few steps!
The disciple excels the guru
Questioner: Suppose the guru has not reached all the way,
but if his disciple has tremendous reverence for him, is he likely to
overtake the guru?
Dadashri: Yes, but only a rare one can! Not everyone
reaches there. One has to find another guru further ahead. If a
disciple is very knowledgeable and quick, and if his mind turns in
the right direction, he will climb the path very fast. But this would
be an exception!
Questioner: Is it possible for the disciple to become
liberated upon listening to the guru’s sermons while the guru
remains right where he is?
Dadashri: Yes, it is possible. The guru stays in the same
place while the disciple moves ahead.
Questioner: Does the effect of punya (merit karma), work
here?
Dadashri: Yes, the effect of punya alone! In fact, when
the guru is teaching, many disciples think, “That cannot be!” They,
then start to ask all kinds of questions. If a disciple starts to think,
“I wonder what it is like?” then begins to think, “It must be like
this,” then gnan will immediately arise. For the one in whom ‘That
cannot be’ does not arise, he will not attain gnan.
Questioner: Did he find a nimit for inciting the vikalp, the
doubt of, ‘That cannot be’?
Dadashri: Yes, he found a nimit; it was simply that! So,
the time has arisen for him to attain gnan, and he starts to think, “It
must be like this. It cannot be like that so it must be like this.” So
the merit karma (punya) will make all kinds of changes. What
can punya not do? And for this knowledge, the Gnan of the Self,
you need punya-anubandhi-punya (the highest of merit karma).
The Gnani Purush is the only one who does not leave any
‘stains’
What kinds of interactions are there in the Kramic path?
The guru will tell his disciple to do as much renunciation ( tyaag)
as he does himself. Therefore, the disciple has to undergo penance,
renunciation and all kinds of testing. And because of the guru’s
grace, the disciple does not feel any anxieties or difficulties and
the guru himself carries on with the grace of his own guru. There is
no end to this process, which is why things continue to go on and
on. All gurus cleanse themselves this way. If you have made
someone your guru, then that guru will cleanse all your dirt but he
will leave some of his own dirt on you. Then if you find another
guru, he will take that dirt out leaving behind some of his dirt on
you. This is the succession of gurus.
When you use soap to clean a cloth, what does the soap
do? It takes out the dirt in the cloth but leaves behind its own
residue. Then who will remove the residue left behind by the soap?
For that, you use Tinopal (cloth whitener). The Tinopal will get
rid of the stains left behind by the soap, but it will leave its own
residue. Then you have to look for something else. In this world,
every one leaves behind his own dirt. How long can this go on? It
will go on until there is a pure and ‘absolutely stainless cleaner’.
You have not made a worldly guru, and you have come
here and that is a big profit. If you had made a guru, that guru
would have left his ‘dirt’ on you. Who is the only one person that
will not leave his dirt on you? The Gnani Purush! The Gnani himself
is free from dirt, he is in the pure form and he makes others pure.
There is no other problem. The Gnani does not add any ‘new
dirt’. The Gnani Purush has a completely pure path, so when you
ultimately find the Gnani Purush, then all your dirt will be cleansed!

34. The Guru and the Disciple 57 58 The Guru and the Disciple
A conduct deficiency in disciples
In the Kramic path, the guru is at the head and he has two
or three disciples with him, not more. Our scriptures have
expounded on the fact that a true disciple will follow the guru
step-by-step and there will be at least two or three such disciples.
That path is very rigid, is it not? There the guru will tell you to give
away your dinner plate to someone else. Then the disciple will
say, ‘No Sahib, I cannot afford to do that. I will go back home.’
Who would stay there! Therefore, the writers of scriptures have
said that behind each Gnani of the Kramic path there are two or
four disciples, not more.
Questioner: Do the disciples not have even that much
energy force or power to follow through ( charitrabud)?
Dadashri: Yes, but where would they get that energy from?
What capabilities do they all have? If they are all eating and one
of them does not get any shrikhand (sweet yoghurt pudding),
then he will get upset. He has so much irritation in just one day
and in just one meal. He keeps getting irritated. In fact, if he gets
less shrikhand than others do, even then he gets irritated. Where
will such people get their charitrabud?
And one day if I say to everyone, ‘If you are served
something that you like, then you should taste it and immediately
pass it on to someone else and eat whatever you do not like to
eat.’ Then what would happen?
Questioner: Everyone would walk away.
Dadashri: Yes, they would walk away. “Good bye, Dada,”
they will say! And later they will greet me by saying, “Jai Shri
Krishna” from afar, from the other side of the fence!
What is it like for the gurus in the Kramic path? The gurus
believe that the vyavahar (interactions) that they are doing is real
and true and they are the doers of it, so this is what one must
renounce. That is the way the worldly life is. When the worldly life
is based on illusion and a person looks for knowledge in it, is he
likely to find it? What do you think? Will he be able to find it?
Questioner: No.
Dadashri: The path is fundamentally wrong there! And
that is why the Gnanis of the Kramic path and their disciples are
bogged down with worries. There is nothing but suffering. If you
tell three disciples, ‘Today, learn the Charan Vidhi by heart and
learn this many pados (hymns) by heart,’ one of them will scratch
his head wondering how will he accomplish it? He goes home and
tries to learn it by heart, but since he cannot, he spends the entire
night being restless. He reads and bickers. While he bickers, he
feels a certain dislike towards the guru for giving him such a
cumbersome task. If a disciple does not like doing what the guru
commands, his feelings towards the guru become negative. Such
is the Kramic path. Even the guru thinks to himself, ‘Today, if he
does not carry out my orders, I am going to tell him off!’ Now
when the disciple goes to the guru, on the way there he feels
apprehensive, worrying about what the guru will say to him. Hey!
Why did you make him your guru in the first place? You would
have been better off the way you were. You should have stayed
without a guru if you have so much fear of being reprimanded! It
would have been better if you did not have a guru. Learn to accept
some scolding to progress spiritually. Should you not taste a diet
of scolding?
In the morning, all the disciples come to meet the guru.
Two of them have followed the guru’s instructions, while one has
not. They go and sit with the guru and he can tell just by looking at
their faces which disciple failed to follow his instructions. It is written
all over his face that he has done nothing. The guru gets frustrated
in his mind and thinks, ‘He does not do anything.’ Since the disciple
did not learn his assignment by heart, the guru rebukes him. The
guru’s eyes, which have turned red, remain that way. The guru

35. The Guru and the Disciple 59 60 The Guru and the Disciple keeps getting aggravated thinking, ‘This disciple is not likely to do
anything.’ At the same time, the disciple lives in fear of the guru.
Now how and when can this be resolved? This is precisely why
he keeps only three disciples; it is all he can handle! All others will
come and do darshan and leave.
In the Kramic path, inner frustration does not leave until the
very end. Both the guru and the disciple experience frustration!
This frustration is a penance, hence there will be radiance on their
faces. When we agitate (heat) impure gold, it will begin to slowly
purify. Will you not begin to see the real gold?
The rift between the guru and the disciple
Questioner: Ordinarily is there not a distance between
the guru and the disciple, or do they have oneness between them?
Dadashri: If they have oneness, then they would both
attain salvation. But here, if the disciple were to break a cup, the
guru will not refrain from becoming aggravated. If the guru and
the disciple were fortunate enough to have this oneness, then both
of them would attain salvation. However, things are not that way.
In fact, this world is such that one loses even the trust he has for
his own self, so how is he going to trust his disciples? And if the
disciple happens to break something, the guru will glare at him
with red, angry eyes.
What conflicts and troubles! All day long they have conflicts!
They cannot even ask their guru to help them get rid of their
conflicts. In reality, one should even ask the guru, ‘Sahib, why are
you getting irritated, being a guru?’
Questioner: But how can we ask the guru that? We cannot
ask the guru such things!
Dadashri: What good is the guru if you cannot ask him
that? If, as a guru, you have differences with your disciples, would
you not ask yourself what kind of a guru you are? If you cannot
get along with one disciple, then how will you deal with the world?
You go around advising everyone, ‘Son, do not quarrel or fight,’
while you have left behind your family, there is no one around you
that is dear to you, but even then why do you quarrel with your
disciples? You have not given birth to him so why are there
kashayas between the two of you? Blood relatives have kashayas
with each other. This poor boy is an outsider who has become
your disciple and even here, you continue to do kashaya?
What would a guru say if the disciple misplaced his book?
He would criticize his disciple by saying, ‘You do not have any
sense, you are not careful.’ Then how does the disciple respond?
‘Do you think I ate the book? It must be here somewhere. If it is
not in your sack then it must be under your bed.’ But the disciple
makes a statement like, ‘Do you think I ate your book?’ That is
what he says. It is better to quarrel at home than to quarrel with a
disciple. He would be better off being a disciple to his wife because,
even though she tells him off, she will at least feed him some
delicious snacks! A little independence is necessary, is it not?
What can you do when you find such a guru, when, despite taking
so much care of him, he speaks so foolishly?
Questioner: Is there not a difference between a rebuke
from the wife and that of the guru? The wife chastises for selfish
reasons and the guru chastises out of unselfish motives.
Dadashri: There is never a selfless ( niswarth) guru. There
are no selfless people in this world. They may appear without
selfish interests, but subtly they are selfishly preparing for
themselves. They are all selfish and everything is deceitful and
without substance. If one understands this just a little bit, he would
recognize it.
Besides, disciples and guru are always quarreling with one
another. They are both immersed in quarrels all day long. If we go
to visit the guru and ask him what is wrong, he will say, ‘That man
is no good, I have found a terrible disciple!’ We should not let the

36. The Guru and the Disciple 61 62 The Guru and the Disciple disciple know of such talks of the guru. Then if we ask the disciple,
‘Son what was all that about?’ he will make the same claim. He
will say that he has found a bad guru. Now, who is telling the truth
here? Neither of them is at fault. It is because of this era of the
current time cycle. It is because of this time cycle that all this has
arisen, but also it is in such a time cycle that a Gnani Purush is born!
No matter how good a disciple is; these are the types of
gurus he encounters. What are the gurus of the Kaliyug like? If
they have a disciple that says, ‘I am ignorant, I do not know
anything,’ the guru will pick on that poor disciple and will not
allow him to progress. Such gurus, until their death, keep finding
faults with the disciples and harass them to the point of no return.
Despite this, some inner energy takes care of the disciple.
However, just think of him as gunpowder, which, without doubt,
will explode one day.
In this time cycle, the disciples do not have the capacity to
tolerate and the guru lacks generosity. The guru needs to be noble
and generous; his mind needs to be noble and generous. He should
be broadminded enough to take care of all weaknesses of the
disciple.
This is how religion has come under criticism
If the disciple was to yell abuses at the guru and the guru
remains calm, he is a true guru. The disciple is weak but can the
guru be weak also? How do you feel about that? The guru cannot
be weak, can he? One day the disciple makes a mistake, says
something wrong, and so the guru will strike back at him. So why
will the disciple follow his instruction? The disciple will remain in
the guru’s agnas when he does not make any mistakes, even
when the disciple makes some. How can the disciples remain in
his agnas if the guru makes mistakes himself? If the disciple sees
just one fault in the guru, he will not stay in the guru’s agna. But if
despite this, he remains in the guru’s agnas, then he will definitely
find salvation!
Everywhere they have become swachhandi (to act on one’s
own ego and intellect). The disciple and the guru fail to respect
each other! The disciple thinks, ‘The guru is lacking in common
sense. I just need to think things through on my own. The guru
can say whatever he wants, but it is up to me whether to listen to
him or not.’ Such is the state that has come to be between the
disciple and guru everywhere. The guru gives instructions to the
disciple, the disciple agrees, but his actions are completely to the
contrary. There is so much swachhand everywhere. The disciple
will say, ‘The guru may talk. He is a little crazy anyway.’ This is
what is happening everywhere. No one has yet been true to his
word.
Otherwise, the relationship between a true guru and his
disciple is so wonderful that whatever the guru says, the disciple
is pleased to hear and follow through. That is the kind of love
there is. But today there is continued quarrelling between the two.
The guru will tell the disciple to do something but the disciple will
not do it. The entire day is spent quarrelling just the way a mother-
in-law and a daughter-in-law do. The disciple thinks about running
away, but where can the poor fellow escape? He left his worldly
home, now how can he go back there? Who would keep him
now? They would not even employ him. Now what can become
of this? Now there is no importance or substance left in the guru
or the disciple and the entire religion is subject to criticism.
The humility of the disciple is the only requirement
There are so many disciples in so many places because of
the gurus. The burden of the disciple falls on the guru’s shoulders.
The disciple is sustained on this basis and this is how their life
proceeds. There are many true gurus in the world and they do
carry the burden of their disciples, hence whatever they do is
correct. The disciple becomes free of responsibility and peace
prevails. Everyone needs some sort of support. A person cannot
survive without any support.

37. The Guru and the Disciple 63 64 The Guru and the Disciple
Questioner: Then does a disciple not have to do anything
there?
Dadashri: What can the poor disciple do? There would
be no need for a guru if he could do it himself, would there? The
disciple cannot do anything on his own. It is only through the grace
of the guru that everything moves ahead. Man cannot do anything
on his own.
Questioner: You need the grace of the guru, but surely,
the disciple must also make some contribution!
Dadashri: He does not have to do anything except show
humility (vinay). What is there to do in this world anyway? Just
show humility. What else can he do? It is not as if you have to
play with toys or bathe idols of God, or anything like that.
Questioner: One does not have to do anything at all? The
guru has to do everything?
Dadashri: The guru does it for you. What do you have to
do yourself?
Questioner: So how does the guru make the disciple reach
his goal?
Dadashri: The guru has brought it from his guru and then
he gives it to the disciple. Everything has been handed down. So
whatever the guru gives, the disciple should take.
Questioner: Many gurus say that you must study and
practice and then you will receive it.
Dadashri: Yes, so many people say that very same thing!
What else do they say? ‘Do this, do that, do that.’ Can illusion
(bhranti - ignorance about the Self) ever be removed by doing?
If you have ‘to do’ things exactly per the guru’s instructions, it is
not possible, is it? They say, “Always tell the truth,” but you cannot
tell the truth can you? Even the books tell you to do that. Do
books not speak also? Nothing can come out of that, can it? The
books tell you to be honest. But has anyone remained honest?
For hundreds of thousands of years they have done just this, they
have not done anything else. Destruction, destruction, destruction
is all they have done.
Only the words of a sincere guru are effective
When you go to a guru, you should not have to do anything.
If you have to, then simply tell him, ‘You go ahead and do all that.
How am I going do it? Why would I have come to you if I could
do it myself?’ Now why is it that a disciple is not able to do
anything? It is because the one telling him to do it does not do it
himself. Whenever the guru himself abides by something, his
disciple too will do it without fail. Otherwise, everything is just a
farce. Then the guru says, ‘You do not have the shakti (any energy).
You are not doing it.’ Why does the guru look for energy in the
disciple when he should be looking for it in himself? I have told
everyone that that they need my energy and that there was no
need for their own energy. Everywhere else, it is just the opposite!
Wherever one establishes himself as a guru, he needs his own
independent energy. Instead, they goad each other by saying, ‘You
are not doing anything!’ Look here you! If I could do it, why
would I bother coming here? Why would I take a beating in your
place? This kind of nonsense continues everywhere because people
of this Kaliyug time cycle do not have any understanding,
otherwise, why do the gurus not give answers as I do? If the guru
were clean, without doubt the disciple too would be clean.
However, the fact that this does not happen means that there is
something lacking in the guru. Yes, the gurus do not have any
substance; they have pol (lack sincerity), this I tell you very candidly.
What do I mean when I say ‘without substance and sincerity
(pol)’? If a guru smokes secretly, you, as a disciple, will not be
able to stop smoking either. Otherwise, why is it not possible? It
must happen exactly as you want. This used to be the custom of

38. The Guru and the Disciple 65 66 The Guru and the Disciple all the gurus in the past. What is a guru? A guru is someone who
practices everything he preaches so others can naturally do the
same. Do you understand that?
Questioner: The idea that I too would automatically attain
what the guru practices is difficult for me to conceive.
Dadashri: In that case, the books are better than the guru
is. Do the books not advise, ‘Do this, do that, do the other?’ So
the books are better than the living beings. And you are expected
to bow down before the living gurus.
Questioner: That helps one become humble, does it not?
Dadashri: What good is that humility? What good does it
do to go to a place your entire life and yet attain nothing? What
good is the water that does not even wet our clothes? So all this is
useless, it is a waste of time and energy!
Did you not understand? If I tell you to give up smoking,
but you cannot do so, then you should know that the fault is mine;
that inherently is a fault within me. If, in spite of all your efforts,
you still cannot give it up, what is the reason behind it? The reason
is my fault; it is because some fault lies in the one giving you the
instruction.
If anyone with vachanbud (energy or power of speech
that is effective in the other person) says for you to do something,
then it would work. Otherwise, when this energy of speech is
lacking, the disciple does not progress. It is simply a wrong habit
that one has acquired of telling others to do things.
The total capability of the guru
There should be a rule everywhere that the guru should be
the one doing everything. Why do people go to a guru? These
gurus cannot do anything and so they put the responsibility on
others and the disciples by telling them to do things. That is why
our people have started believing this. The gurus reprimand them
and people accept it. You should not have to listen to such
reprimands but these gurus are constantly after the disciples,
constantly chiding them about what to do and how to do it.
Most seekers are humble and meek; not all seekers are
strong. So how will a meek person proceed? He would only show
his weakness. You have to say, ‘Sahib, why don’t you just do for
me, whatever you are asking me to do? As a guru you are in a
great position, yet you are asking me to do it for you? I am
crippled and weak. You must help me stand up. Should you be
the one carrying me on your shoulders or do I have to carry you
on mine?’ Should you not say this to the guru? But these meek
people of our country will say, ‘Yes, Sahib, I will do it tomorrow,’
anytime the guru tells them to do something. Why don’t you
speak up clearly? Can you not speak in this manner? Why are
you not saying anything? Whose side am I favoring when I say
all this?
Questioner: You are speaking for us.
Dadashri: Yes, you should say, ‘Sahib, you are strong
and I am weak. I am willing to do whatever you ask of me, but I
am not capable of doing it so you must do it for me. And if you do
not, then I will simply go to another shop (guru). Please tell me
either way if you have the capability, so that I can seek another
guru if need be. If it is not possible for you, then I will go elsewhere
and seek another guru.’
So whom would you call a guru? It is someone who does
not tell you to do anything; that is a guru. Ordinary people call
themselves gurus. They even claim, “A guru can even make a
crippled climb a mountain ( pangu langayate girima).” He also
tells the disciple to carry him on his shoulders. Hey you! You are
telling me this when you yourself are asking me to put you on my
shoulders and walk? I am the one who is crippled, yet you are
asking me to carry you on my shoulders? Is this not a contradiction?
What do you think?

39. The Guru and the Disciple 67 68 The Guru and the Disciple
Questioner: Does that mean that the disciple should not
take on any effort and that the guru should be the one making all
the efforts?
Dadashri: Yes, the guru should be the one doing everything.
If you have to do it, then you should ask him, “So Sahib, tell me
what you are going to do? If you don’t have to do anything except
give orders then, I would rather obey the orders of my wife. Even
she is capable of reading a book and giving orders, just like you.
Your telling me to ‘do this’, will not work. You help me do
something. You do what I cannot do and what you cannot do, I
will do.” Divide the work in this manner. And if the guru responds,
‘Why should I do it?’ then you can ask him, ‘How will I progress
from doing all this?’ Should you not question the guru this way?
Questioner: But what if the seeker is inadequate, then
what?
Dadashri: You do not have to look at the other person.
The guru must be good. People are like that anyway; people are
not capable. They will say exactly this: ‘Sahib, I am not capable,
which is why I have come to you. Is it for me to even do anything?’
And if he says, ‘You will have to do it,’ then he is not a guru. They
should reason with the guru by saying, ‘Look, if I had to do it,
why would I come to you? Why would I have sought out a
(Samarth) completely capable person like you? Why don’t you
at least think about that! You are completely capable, and I am
weak. I cannot do it, and that is why I have come to you. If I have
to do anything, then what does that make you? It makes you
weak! How can one call you samarth? A samarth person can
do anything.’
The gurus have no substance whatsoever and that is why
their disciples have problems and burden. The gurus have no
substance and that is why they find faults with the disciples. If a
husband has no substance, he will find faults with his wife. There
is a popular worldly saying that a weak husband dominates his
wife. Similarly, these weak gurus control their disciples. They make
their disciples’ lives miserable with their rebukes of ‘You cannot
do anything.’ If this is what you do as a guru, why do you declare
yourself as a ‘great guru’? Why do you needlessly rebuke your
disciples? The poor man has come to you because he is unhappy
and, on top of that, you are telling him off! At home, his wife tells
him off and here you tell him off. When does all this come to an
end?
A guru is someone who does not chastise his disciple. He
protects and supports his disciple. How can you call these gurus
of the Kaliyug, ‘gurus’? All day long, they keep pushing their
disciples around. That is not the way!
During the time of the Lord Mahavir, no one would have
said, ‘You will have to do this much,’ but today these gurus say
exactly that. And the disciples keep pleading, ‘Sahib, I can’t do
it, I can’t do anything.’ Hey you! You will turn into a stone if you
keep saying, ‘I can’t do anything.’ This is because you become
what you envision and say. You will become whatever you project
yourself to be. If you believe that you cannot do anything, then
will you not become like that? This is something people do not
understand; that is why everything continues without substance
(pol). Any guru who does not do anything for you is a burdensome
guru. For that matter, even when you go to a doctor, would you
not have to tell him, ‘I am ill and I don’t know what is wrong. You
make me well again.’ Should you not say this to even a doctor?
Questioner: Yes, I should.
Dadashri: That is why the guru must do it for you. He will
teach you everything. Then he will tell you to read, but he will
teach you everything. When can these poor working people with
wives, children and jobs get anything done? The guru, on the other
hand, has a lot of energy; he has infinite energy that lets him
accomplish everything. The guru should say, ‘You may lack the
understanding, but I am here. I am present here. Do not be afraid.

40. The Guru and the Disciple 69 70 The Guru and the Disciple If you cannot understand, take it all from me.’ I myself have said
to everyone, ‘None of you have to do anything. I have to do it. I
have to get rid of whatever weaknesses you may have.’
Dada has given a profound Gnan
What am I saying? When I tell everyone to walk alongside
of me, they say, ‘No, Dada, you are a step ahead.’ I tell them that
they are correct when they say that, but I insist that they walk
beside me. I tell them, “I do not mean to make you my disciple. I
mean to make you God. You truly are bhagwan and I mean to
give you your seat. I am telling you to become exactly like me!
Become brilliant. Become what I wish you to be!”
I have not kept anything with me; I have given it all to you.
I have not kept anything in my pocket. Whatever I have, I have
given to you. I have not held anything back. Everything I have
given out is the state of the Absolute. I want nothing from you. I
have come to give my whole Gnan to you. That is why I have
made everything open here. That is why it is written, “Dada is
very naïve and simple; he has given away a profound and deep
Gnan.”
No one would give away this Gnan, would they? Hey you!
Let me give away this Gnan so people can find peace and calm.
What will I gain by keeping it all to myself? Should I conceal it
and go to sleep?
The general rule is that anything in the world that is given
away will decrease, but only gnan (knowledge) will increase! This
is natural. Only Gnan! Nothing else! Everything else will decrease.
One person asked me why I disclose everything I know instead
of holding some knowledge back. I told him that this Gnan
increases by giving. Both mine, and his, will increase so what
am I losing? I do not want to hold back the Gnan and be a guru
and have people massage my legs. Such a situation would be
like that of the British who kept all knowledge concealed. They
even used to charge a consultation fee for their expert advice.
That is why all this knowledge will drown away. Our people had
the custom of giving. They would give generously. They would
give the knowledge of Ayurveda. They gave the knowledge of
Astrology. They also gave spiritual knowledge. They gave
everything freely.
This Gnan has not been kept a secret. Here, in the worldly
life, the gurus hold a little back. They say, ‘The disciple is crooked
so what will I do when he turns on me and opposes me?’ This is
because the guru wants worldly happiness. Food, water, he wants
everything else. When his legs hurt, the disciple will massage them.
If his disciple was to become just like him and then the guru’s legs
were hurting, and if the disciple did not massage them for him,
what would happen? Therefore, the gurus would hold back certain
knowledge.
That is why the gurus believe that they should keep ten
percent for themselves and give out the rest. They have acquired
seventy percent of knowledge, out of which they keep ten percent,
while I give away the whole ninety-five percent that I have
attained. If it agrees with you, i.e., if you are able to accept it, then
so be it. Otherwise, you will get diarrhea (you will not be able to
digest it) but at least you will gain some benefit from it.
Nowadays some gurus hold back what they know and give
out little at a time to the disciples. And the disciples in return think
‘We are not getting anything yet, but we will receive it eventually.’
The guru will give them the knowledge gradually but why not give
it all away so that the disciples can benefit? But no one gives, do
they? Are greedy people likely to give? Anyone that has any greed
for worldly things will never completely and openly be able to
give out the total knowledge that he has. Out of greed, he will
keep it for himself.
Questioner: But the disciple he finds is also greedy. He
wants to grab everything, does he not?

41. The Guru and the Disciple 71 72 The Guru and the Disciple
Dadashri: The disciple is needy and greedy for sure. What
I mean to say is that the disciple is generally greedy. That poor
fellow has the greed of, ‘It would be good if I could get this Gnan.’
His greed is to gain gnan from the guru; there is that much greed
on his part. But is the guru not greedy also? How can we afford to
have that? Not only does he not progress himself, but he also
makes it difficult for his disciple to do so. This is what is happening
in India now.
Exploitation by the guru
There are no other problems if the guru is good. To find a
pure guru in this era of current time cycle, a guru that is not
business-minded; is considered tremendous punya (merit karma).
What do the gurus do otherwise? They will find the disciple’s
weaknesses and then play on them, making life miserable for him.
Whom can the poor disciple disclose his weakness to, if he cannot
even disclose them to his guru?
Questioner: Right now, there are certain gurus, considered
gurus in the eyes of the world, but in reality, they are actually
exploiting their disciples.
Dadashri: Maybe one or two gurus are for real, but despite
their honesty and sincerity, they have limited skills. Deceitful gurus
on the other hand, are very clever and they employ all kinds of
guises.
Questioner: Any man who wants to be free takes support
of a guru, but then he is not able to free himself from that guru.
Therefore, eventually he will have to be free from that guru too;
don’t you think so?
Dadashri: Yes. I came across a businessperson in Surat
who asked me to save him from his guru who told him that he
would destroy him. He was afraid of what might happen to him
and came to me for help. I asked him, “What sort of dealing do
you have with him that he used such strong language towards
you? Do you have some relation of ‘give and take’ with him? He
can only speak this way if there is some ‘give and take’.” He then
told me, ‘My guru says that unless I send him 50,000 rupees, he
will destroy me.’ I asked him if he dealt in money with his guru or
engaged in a business of lending money to him. He told me, ‘There
is no lending of money but my guru tells me that unless I give him
money, things would go very badly for me. Therefore, out of fear,
I would give him money. So far, I have given him 125, 000 rupees
and, on top of that, he wants 50,000 more. I do not have that much
money now. This guru is telling me that he would destroy me.’
I told him to come with me; I told him that I would protect
him. Then I said, ‘You will not be destroyed. I will protect you
from whatever your guru does to you, but from now on, do not
send anything there. If you feel love towards the guru, then send
something. If you feel an overwhelming love, then send something,
but do not send anything out of fear. Otherwise, the guru will
become even more demanding. Do not be afraid. Do not think
negatively about your guru. This guru has taken away from you
because of your mistake. He has not taken because of his mistake.’
The guru took away his money because of this disciple’s
mistake, is that not so? It is because of this disciple’s greed
(lalacha). Surely, he must have had some greed in him in order to
keep such a guru! That is why he would give money to him, is that
not true? Therefore, it is because of his own greed that he has
been deceived. And these gurus will not let go of anything that
comes into their hands. Such are the gurus of the Kaliyug; they
are not concerned about their next birth in the lower life form or
what may happen to them as a consequence of their actions. They
just have to find a prey. But what does the guru say? “He is my
devotee,” is that not what they say? At least it is good they call
him a devotee and not a victim or prey; like hunters do!
Then I asked him if he had done anything in the name of his
guru. He replied, ‘Yes, I went and threw his photographs I used

42. for worship, in the Tapi River. He was bothering me so much that
I became frustrated, so I threw them away.’ But why did you
worship those photographs in the first place? And after doing so
why did you throw them into the Tapi River? The guru did not tell
you to worship the photos and then throw them in the river. You
should have not worshipped them to begin with. If you worshipped
him, the liability is yours; you have done wrong. One day you
worship the pictures and the following day you throw them in the
water? You yourself are the worshipper and you are the destroyer
too. Is that not a sin? Then why were you worshipping them?
And if you need to destroy it, then make sure you do a vidhi
(special prayers) before you do so. This is not acceptable because
it is himsa (violence) to worship a photo one day, and throw it
away in the river the next. If we know that a picture is a picture of
God, and still we throw it in the river, then we are liable for it. It
would not be a problem if it was done in ignorance.
Questioner: It was because of the guru’s action that he
had to resort to doing that, is that not so? Did the guru not become
a nimit in that? Is the guru not at fault?
Dadashri: The guru can do whatever he likes but you must
not make a mistake. The karma of your mistakes will apply to
you and the karma of his mistakes will apply to him. If you insult
me and shout abuses at me, and I get angry and shout back, then
the karma will bind me. I have no need to do such things, do I?
You bind karma. If you are wealthy, if you have the status and the
money, then you bind them. I do not have that kind of energy nor
do I have that kind of wealth. If one had that kind of energy then
he would bind karma, is that not so? That is why we say that if this
dog bites you, does that mean that you should bite the dog back?
The dog is likely to bite anyway!
Questioner: How is it a sin to throw away photographs of
such a guru?
Dadashri: You should not speak this way; you cannot say
that. God resides in that guru. He may be bad, but God lives
within him! You should see him as faultless ( nirdosh). It is because
of your previous life’s demerit karma (sin), that you found such a
guru, and became trapped. If not, you would not find such a guru.
It is based upon an account of give and take from your past life
that you met this particular guru. If not, then why did you two
meet? No one else but you came across him. Why has he come
to you?
Later, I did vidhi (special inner blessings), for him and told
him not to speak badly or have ill thoughts or enmity towards the
guru. I made him do pratikraman in his mind and taught him
everything. I paved the way for that man and for the photographs
he threw in the river. I showed him what kind of a vidhi he had to
do and after that he became free.
Then, for twelve months, he did not go to the guru.
Eventually, when the guru realized that someone had kept the
disciple from coming to him, he wrote a letter saying, ‘Come back,
I will not bother you in any way.’ The habit the guru had of exploiting
his disciples had hurt only the guru; his own greed had hurt him!
Now this man does not go there. Is a fish that escaped likely to
enter the net again? He who is greedy should not take up a guru.
The one who has no beggary and is independent may take up a
guru. If the guru tells you, ‘Go away from here,’ then you should
tell him, ‘Sahib, as you wish. I do have a home and my wife is a
guru anyway!’
If you do not have a guru, make your wife your guru!
If you do not find it easy to make a guru, but you feel uneasy
being without one, then you should tell your wife, ‘You just sit
down. I will treat you like a guru.’ Do not look at her face; tell her
to turn around. After all, this idol is a living idol!
Yes, so make your wife your guru. What do you want to
do? Are you not married yet? The Guru and the Disciple 73 74The Guru and the Disciple

43. Questioner: I am married.
Dadashri: So go ahead make her your guru. At least she
is right there in your home. She will stay with you no matter what.
Questioner: What good does that do? Don’t we need a
Gnani?
Dadashri: What are the gurus out there going to give you?
Besides, every man has made his wife a guru. It is just that no man
would admit it!
Questioner: But one cannot say that in front of everyone!
Dadashri: No one says anything, but I understand people’s
nature. I even tell young men that they appear wise because their
guru (wife) has not yet come. Just wait until she comes! There is
nothing wrong in you bringing home a wife. But you should have
sense enough that you don’t take advantage of the situation. When
she cooks you good food – she makes fritters, jalebees and ladoos,
etc., for you – then why not make her your guru? If you are not
impressed with any gurus outside, if you do not come across a
guru that captures your heart, then just tell your wife, ‘Come, you
are my guru and I am your guru.’ Alas! This will bring rise to
uchhado here! She will be fascinated and attracted ( uchhado) to
you and so will you be for her. What is the point of making
someone you are not attracted to, your guru? Why not make
your wife your guru! What is wrong with that? God resides in her,
so then it is immaterial whether she is educated or not.
So if you do not find a good guru, then you can make your
wife your guru in the end! This is because it is better to do things
after consulting a guru. If one does not ask, then one is likely to go
astray. Therefore, you should consult your wife; ask her, ‘What
do you think? I will do as you tell me to.’ The wife in turn should
make her husband her guru. She should say, ‘I will do whatever
you tell me to.’ It is better to do this, than to make these fraudulent
people your guru; at least there is no deception at home! Therefore,
you should establish your wife as your guru. You need at least one
guru, do you not?
Gurus with kashayas
Questioner: I have accepted one saint as my guru. So
should I do japa (repeated chants) in his name, or in someone
else’s name?
Dadashri: If you feel dissatisfied and incomplete, then you
can take some other name and recite it. But do you feel any
dissatisfaction? There is no anger, pride, deceit and greed in you,
is there?
Questioner: That happens a lot, inside.
Dadashri: What about worries?
Questioner: The worries are there but they are
comparatively less.
Dadashri: If you continue to have worries, what is the
point of reciting that person’s name? It is meaningless! What is
the point of reciting that name if you experience anger, pride, deceit
and greed? Others have anger, pride, deceit and greed, and so
do you, therefore, your work did not get accomplished.
So now, change your guru. For how long do you want to
hang on to that one shop? If you want to stay there then stay
there, but I am giving you this advice. There is no problem if your
work (spiritual progress) is getting done there. If you stay in one
place, then there is no need to meddle with another place.
If there is separation due differences of opinion ( matbhed),
then what did the guru do for you? A guru is the one who relieves
all suffering.
Questioner: Everything you say about the guru is well and
good, but here I have accepted him as my guru through inner
inspiration.
The Guru and the Disciple 75 76The Guru and the Disciple

44. Dadashri: That is fine; there is nothing wrong with that.
But if you have taken his medicine for twelve years and have not
been cured of your sickness, then let the doctor and his medicine
stay at his home! For infinite lifetimes one has done nothing but
this, hence one has to keep wandering!
Questioner: But in all this, is the guru at fault or am I at
fault?
Dadashri: It is the guru’s fault! Right now, I have with me
some sixty thousand people and should any one of them get hurt,
it would be my fault. Why would it be the fault of these poor
people? They are unhappy, which is why they have come to me in
the first place, and if they do not get happiness then it is my fault.
Because the gurus cannot make others happy they say,
‘You are crooked and that is why all this is happening.’ The lawyer
says to his client, ‘Your karma is bad and that is why things did
not work out.’
What should a guru be like? A guru should be someone
that takes away all your suffering! How can you call any other a
guru?
Questioner: But I feel as though it is the fault of my prakruti
(the non-Self complex of thoughts, speech and acts).
Dadashri: There is no problem with the prakruti. No
matter what your prakruti is like, the guru will embrace it. These
gurus that proclaim themselves as gurus, are they doing so without
a selfish intent? People go to any guru and make helpless requests
to them. People disregard the vibrations of the guru’s anger, pride,
deceit and greed. What good are such gurus? But our people
have this bad habit of remaining in whatever shop they visit. They
do not look to see whether their anger, pride, deceit and greed
have diminished or not. They do not check whether their
weaknesses have gone, or whether their separation due to
differences of opinion ( matbhed) has decreased, their worries
have decreased, or their anxieties and reactions to external
problems have decreased. If you ask them, they will tell you that
nothing has decreased. Then let it go, forget about it, just get out
of that shop! Can you not understand this much?
These are all mistakes on the part of the gurus themselves.
None of them will admit to it. I have come to expose the truth. I
do not have divisive differences with anyone nor do I have any
problems with anyone! Nevertheless, no guru will admit to having
such faults. They proclaim themselves as gurus and dominate the
public!
Clashes end with real guru
A guru is someone who would give us such an understanding
that clash will not occur, not even during an entire month. And if
you experience clashes, then you should understand that you have
not found the right guru. What is the purpose of having a guru
when you still have mental torment ( kadhapo) and restlessness
(ajampo)? You have to say to the guru, ‘Sahib, it seems that your
mental torment and restlessness have not gone, otherwise why
would my mental torment and restlessness not go? If it is possible
for mine to go then I will come back to you.’ If not then you
should say, “Ram, Ram, Jai sat chit anand. ” You have wandered
around for endless lifetimes going in and out of such shops. And if
nothing is being done, then you should tell your guru, ‘Sahib, you
are a great man, but nothing is happening to me. So if you have a
solution, please help me. If not, then I will be on my way.’ Should
you not speak frankly? Similarly, when you go to a shop say, ‘If
you do not have any silk goods, then I will go elsewhere. Don’t
give me linen instead.’
A guru can only be called a guru when you have worshipped
him with an understanding and you have surrendered all your
ownership. Otherwise, how can you call him a guru? He should
remove your darkness (ignorance) and if you walk the road, he
shows you, then your anger, pride, deceit and greed will decrease,
The Guru and the Disciple 77 78The Guru and the Disciple

45. your matbhed will lessen, and you will not experience worries or
clashes at all. If you experience clashes then he cannot be a guru;
he is a phony!
Do not waste your life stuck with one guru
People get stuck after having just one guru; you should not.
If you are not satisfied, then change your guru. Where you feel a
pleasing quiescence of the mind, where you do not experience
dissatisfaction, where the mind rests, that is where you should
stay. But do not get stuck believing as others have done. Many
lifetimes have been ruined in this way. The human birth does not
come very often and you are wasting it if you sit and stagnate. By
searching in this way, one day you will find the right guru, will you
not? You want to find the main thing. He who searches will find it.
Where a person does not want to look and takes the approach,
‘Oh well! We will go where our friends go,’ everything is ruined.
Guru and Gnani
Questioner: The person we have accepted to be our guru
is not a Gnani. You are a Gnani. So do we keep both the guru and
the Gnani or do we forget the guru?
Dadashri: Keep your guru. You need a guru for everything.
If he is a guru involved in worldly interactions, then he would be
considered beneficial because he looks out for you. If you face
any difficulties in your worldly life, you have to go to him. You
need a worldly guru. You should not push him aside. The Gnani
Purush shows you the instruments for your liberation; he does not
meddle with vyavahar (worldly life interactions). Therefore, the
Gnani Purush is for moksha. Your guru and the Gnani have nothing
to do with each other.
You are not to let go of that guru. You must keep that guru.
How would you conduct your worldly affairs without a guru? From
the Gnani Purush you can learn about nischay (Self), if you want
to. The other guru will help you in your worldly life. He will give
you the understanding to help you advance in the worldly life. If
there are any difficulties, he will advise you. He will free you from
negative deeds and guide you towards good deeds. The Gnani,
on the other hand, takes you above bad deeds or good deeds; he
makes you transcend them both and leads you towards liberation.
Do you understand? The gurus of worldly life teach worldly religion
and duties, to do what is right and discard all that is bad. They
make you understand matters of good and bad. The worldly life
will always be there so you must keep that guru, and if you want
moksha, then that is what the Gnani Purush is for. The two are
separate. The Gnani Purush takes the side of the Lord within.
You cannot forget the obligation to your guru
Questioner: If we have a guru before meeting you, what
should we do?
Dadashri: Then you should go to him; however, it is not
mandatory that you go. Go if you want to and if you don’t want
to, then don’t. You should go so that he does not feel hurt. You
should have respect for him. Here, before taking Gnan, if someone
asks me whether or not he should let go of his guru, I would tell
him no because it was his guru’s grace that has brought him this
far. Because of the guru, people can live with some boundaries. If
the guru is not there, then there is no boundary. You can tell the
guru, ‘I have found a Gnani Purush. I go to do his darshan.’
Some people even bring their gurus to me. The guru too wants
moksha, does he not?
Questioner: What happens once we have a guru and then
we leave him?
Dadashri: But it is not necessary to leave your guru. What
can you accomplish by leaving him? And why would I tell you to
leave him? Why would I involve myself in such a mess? I would
be liable if something wrong were to happen. Now you have to
appease the guru and work with him. It is possible to do so. If The Guru and the Disciple 79 80The Guru and the Disciple

46. you are not happy with the work he does, then you can take less
work out of him. But what is wrong with just casually visiting him
once in a while?
Questioner: What if someone has a guru and then he meets
You. Then the guru becomes like the ‘tea’ and you like the ‘jalebee’
(meaning one finds even tea with sugar bland after eating a jalebee!)
What do we do about that?
Dadashri: If the situation becomes like that of ‘tea and
jalebee,’ it is a different matter. That is natural. If I tell him, ‘Let
the guru go’ then he will take the wrong path. Therefore, one is
not to leave the guru. If things become bland, let them be, but you
must not drop him. You should go and do his darshan occasionally
so that he does not feel hurt. If he knows that you are going
elsewhere, you should tell him, ‘I have found this benefit solely
because of your grace. You have put me on this road!’ This will
make him happy. What is this path of the Self, like? It is a path
where one will never forget even the person who had offered him
a cup of tea. What do you think?
Questioner: I did not understand; that is why I ask this
question.
Dadashri: That is very well. It is best to make sure through
asking. Make sure of everything by asking.
That is why you must not reject him. If you have made
someone your guru, it is very wrong to reject him. You did take at
least something from him, did you not? He must have helped you
to some extent. He must have helped you climb a step or two,
which is why you must be obliged to him. So whatever you have
attained thus far is, of course, an obligation. You cannot forget a
person who has helped you! So you should not leave your guru.
You should do his darshan. If you reject him, it will hurt him and
that will put you at fault. If you have obliged me in some way and
then I leave you, that would be a mistake on my part. That is why
you cannot leave him; you should always be obliged to him. A
man is not a real man if he forgets the slightest obligation.
So let your guru be. You should keep your guru. You should
not move your guru aside. It is not worth pushing any guru aside.
If you try to push them away, then you would become an adversary
of the person you had once leaned on for support. There is no
need to be an opponent.
From the perspective of a disciple
Questioner: So what kind of a guru should we go to, in
order to progress towards the Self?
Dadashri: A guru should be such that your mind would
not spoil towards him your whole life. Your mind will feel joy
whenever you look at him. If you find such a guru then go to him.
Questioner: If negative thoughts arise, I change my intent
(bhavna) immediately. What is the role of the grace of the guru in
this?
Dadashri: The guru’s grace can help you tremendously.
But your intent and love towards him should match this. Your
feelings towards the guru should be such that you do not like it
when the guru is away and that you feel restless being away from
him. These are the feelings you should have for the guru. You
should miss his presence.
The weaker the guru’s gnan, the longer it takes his disciple.
Exact and precise gnan will yield immediate results. It does not
matter that I have not attained Keval Gnan (absolute perfect
knowledge), but I have attained Bheda Gnan (the knowledge that
separates the real and the relative), and that gives immediate results.
The Gnani’s love is unconditional
Questioner: When can we know that the guru is really
pleased (prasanna)?The Guru and the Disciple 81 82 The Guru and the Disciple

47. Dadashri: If you remain and abide by his agnas, then he
is pleased. You would recognize that he is pleased. Day and night,
the guru will surround you with love.
Questioner: We need to have a certain conduct in order
to please the guru, however, if the guru witnesses certain flaws or
weaknesses in our conduct, he is also likely to become
disappointed in us, is he not?
Dadashri: To become really pleased ( prasanna) means
never to become disappointed. The disciple is bound to make
mistakes, but a true guru-Gnani will never become displeased.
Guru’s extraordinary gift
Questioner: Since the spiritual ( adhyatmic) guru is without
inner inclinations or needs ( nispruhi), then how can one give him
gurudakshina (gift for a guru)?
Dadashri: By following his agnas. If you follow his agnas,
this gift to him will reach him. If you follow the five Agnas that I
give you, then your gift to me will reach me.
Questioner: If a guru that teaches us anything is nispruhi,
then what kind of gift should I give him?
Dadashri: If the guru is nispruhi (without inclinations), then
you can serve him, offer physical services, run errands for him;
you can pay him back in this way. There are many other ways;
there are other ways to do service for those who are nispruhi.
Antaryaami Guru – the Guru that is within
Questioner: Can we worship both the external guru and
the Antaryaami (inner guru) at the same time?
Dadashri: Yes, if the inner guru keeps showing you the
path, then you do not need the external one.
Questioner: One’s effort (purusharth) can be more if a
guru is in the physical form (embodied).
Dadashri: Yes, if the guru is living and present, then you
will be able to do purusharth right away. The Antaryaami (inner
guru) will give you a great deal of guidance; that state is very high.
It is very difficult for the inner guru; the Self to manifest. The external
guru will help you more.
Otherwise make your Self your guru; it is called
‘Shuddhatma’. You tell him, “O Shuddhatma Bhagwan, you guide
me,” and He will.
Who does not need a guru?
Questioner: If we become exactly Self-realized from You,
then we do not need a guru do we?
Dadashri: Then you do not need a guru. Who does not
need a guru? A Gnani Purush such as me, has no need for a guru.
The One who can ‘see’ absolutely all his mistakes does not need
a guru.
Questioner: To keep continuous awareness in the Gnan
that You have given us, do we need the guru’s satsang or his
presence or proximity?
Dadashri: Yes, all that is necessary. You need to follow
the five Agnas. Everything is necessary.
Questioner: Then the guru is necessary, is he not?
Dadashri: The guru is not necessary. Who is the guru when
you become the sadhya (i.e. when you become that which you
worship, the Self). A sadhak (the one who worships, seeks) has
a guru. I have sixty thousand people as mahatmas. They do not
need to have a guru.
Questioner:
Do they need satsang?
Dadashri: Yes, they need satsang and thereafter they need
to follow the five Agnas.
The Guru and the Disciple 83 84 The Guru and the Disciple

48. Questioner: It is necessary for me to come here every
day when you are here, is it not?
Dadashri: While I am here, take the benefit of it. And if
you do not come every day but come once a month, even then it
does not matter.
Questioner: In your absence, is this kind of awareness
necessary or not? Is satsang needed or not?
Dadashri: Of course, it is necessary! But do as much as
you can; do however much you can. That way you will benefit
more.
Questioner: When you go abroad, it is very empty here.
No one here gets together for satsang.
Dadashri: You just feel that it is empty. None of them
(mahatmas left in India while Dada is abroad) feels that it is empty.
Dada Bhagwan stays with them throughout the entire day,
constantly for twenty-four hours. He stays with you even when I
am abroad! Just as Lord Krishna stayed with the gopis (female
devotees of Lord Krishna) constantly, that is how he stays!
The ideal disciple
Did you understand everything clearly or not? If you
understand clearly, then you can come to a solution. If not, then
how can you resolve anything? I have shown you the same
understanding with which I have understood; the same clarification
with which I have been liberated, completely liberated. I have
shown you the path that I have opened up.
Questioner: But how would an outsider understand this?
Dadashri: This is not for outsiders to understand. This is
for you to understand. It is not something that you can make others
understand. Whatever is digested, is digested! Not everyone will
be able to understand. Everyone must have that much energy.
They need to have the energy to digest this do they not? And
there is no telling about these people. There is no order to their
minds; they become irritated and fight wherever they go. The
people before them were much more still.
These people have all become weary from their wanderings!
At work, the boss rebukes him; at home, his wife rebukes him.
Only a certain number of people are saved from all this, but right
now everywhere one is beaten down. Why do people go to the
guru nowadays? They go because of their greed of, ‘He will fix
my problems. If something happens to me then the guru will
bestow his blessings on me and I will be fine,’ that is what they
believe.
Questioner: So what kind of qualities should the disciple
have in order to have a guru?
Dadashri: How can there be good qualities in a disciple
during these times? Who is worthy of being called a disciple? He
would be someone whose faith in the guru would remain unshaken
even if the guru acts crazy. When the guru acts crazy, even then
the disciple does not lose faith in him. That is the quality of a
disciple. Does that ever happen to you?
Questioner: As yet, that kind of situation has not occurred.
Dadashri: What would you do if it were to occur?
Yes, when you place your faith in your guru, do it in such a
way that you will never have to take it away after you have placed
it. If not, you should not place that faith in the first place.
Just yesterday, you looked upon him as your guru, but when
the guru started acting crazy, you shouted obscenities at him. You
lashed out with all sorts of abuses. Hey you! Why did you place
your faith in him in the first place? And if you once accepted him,
then stop abusing him. Until now, you took care of a tree; you
gave it water and nurtured it and now you are cutting it down!
The Guru and the Disciple 85 86 The Guru and the Disciple

49. What is going to become of you? Whatever will become of the
guru, let it be, but what will become of you?
Questioner: Does this happen because one has put the
guru on a pedestal, and then becomes disappointed in him?
Dadashri: Either you do not make someone your guru or
if you do, then even if he starts to act crazy, your view of him
should not become tarnished.
A crazy guru is still a guru
People will find faults with the guru in just five days,
questioning him, ‘Why do you do this?’ Hey you! Are you pointing
out the guru’s mistakes? Do people not tend to do this?
Questioner: Yes, one must never point out a guru’s mistake!
Dadashri: Yes, but they cannot refrain from doing so. These
people belong to time cycle of Kaliyug! That is why they go to a
lower life form. At the present time, gurus are not perfect. Where
would you find a perfect guru in the present time cycle? These
gurus, too, are the gurus of Kaliyug!
If your guru were to make a mistake, you should not leave
him. This is because everything is an effect of karma. Can you not
understand this? Why are you looking at something else? Just do
namaskar (do salutation and revere) his position! You do not
have to see what he does. At this time, his karma is unfolding and
that is what he is enduring. So how does it concern you? Why do
you need to look at what he is doing? Just because he has cramps
in his stomach, does it mean that his status as a guru is gone?
Moreover, if one day he vomits does that mean he is no longer a
guru? Just as you have your unfolding karma, would he not have
the same? What do you think?
Questioner: That is right.
Dadashri: If he has stomach cramps, should all the
disciples go away? If right now I had stomach cramps, would you
all go away? So do not commit such a fault, do not become an
opponent. Have you become an opponent of the one you used to
worship and follow? Then what sort of a state will you be in? That
gurupad (the status of a guru) should not go; do not look at him
in any other way. But today so many people look at their gurus
from different perspectives, don’t they?
Reverence must not break
If this (guru making a mistake) happens to your guru of
forty years, even then you must not allow any changes to overcome
you. You should maintain the same view about him that you always
had. If not, then it would be a terrible crime. I am telling you, if
you have a guru, then be very careful. If he turns out to be wild
and crazy, then you must not look at the wildness and craziness in
him. You should look upon him the same way you did the day you
made him your guru. If I worship a guru, then no matter what he
does, whether he beats me, drinks alcohol, or eats meat, I would
not stop worshipping him. This is because when I saw him for the
first time, he was different, and today he displays another kind of
behavior because he is under the control of his prakruti. What is
more, it is all happening to him against his own intent. This is what
you must understand immediately. Once you have chosen and
certified a diamond, then what? Does it then turn into glass? No,
it remains a diamond.
I will give you an example of this. Say I plant a tree myself
and then I have to build a railway line. If that tree becomes an
obstruction to the railway line, I would not allow that tree to be
cut down. I would say that I planted, watered and nurtured it, so
turn the course of the railway line. But don’t cut down this tree.
For the same reason, if I have worshipped one guru, then whatever
he does, my vision of him will not change. The reason for this is
that he is controlled by his karma. Whatever you see is dependent
upon karma. I would understand that his karmas are unfolding. The Guru and the Disciple 87 88 The Guru and the Disciple

50. Therefore, you cannot look at this in any other way. Listen! If you
wanted to cut down the tree, you should not have grown it in the
first place and if you want to grow it, then do not cut it. This has
been my principle from the beginning! What is your principle?
When the time comes, should you cut it down quickly?
Therefore, whomever you praise, you should not criticize.
If you have praised him for forty years, and in the forty-first year,
you criticize him, then you will lose all that you had gained in the
forty years and on top of that, you bind a karmic fault.
Do not worship anyone; if you do, then your reverence for
him should not break. Sincerity is the essential requirement of
spiritual progress. This is all you need to understand.
Who is at fault in this?
Questioner: But in this world, whoever we consider
praiseworthy, as long as they behave in a way that is acceptable
to us, that relationship will last. And if the other person does
something even slightly wrong, then our relationship will spoil!
Dadashri: Yes, it becomes devastated. Not only does it
spoil, but one also becomes an adversary of the other person.
Questioner: Whatever good feelings he had for that person
goes away.
Dadashri: It goes away and on top of that, he becomes an
opponent.
Questioner: Then whose mistake is it?
Dadashri: The ‘one’ who sees the mistake, it is his mistake!
There is nothing wrong in this world. The world is for ‘seeing’ and
‘knowing,’ what else? What are you calling right and wrong? It is
your intellect within that is deceiving you.
Questioner: But the one who sees things as right or wrong
is the one at fault, is that not what you are saying?
Dadashri: Yes, it is the fault of the intellect ( buddhi). You
should understand that the intellect makes you see things as
positive, negative, right or wrong. Therefore, You must remain
separate from it. As long as the intellect is there, it will surely do
that, but You should understand whose fault it is. If your eyes
happen to see something negative, You should be aware that such
negativity was seen by the eyes.
The prakruti is changing constantly
If you have revered a Gnani Purush or a guru, or anyone
else for that matter, then if ever he becomes delirious and bites
you, hits you, or even swears at you, you must not see a single
fault in him. Are people likely to remain calm if someone yells
abuses at them? Therefore, they lack such understanding. That
guru is the one and the same that you worshipped and the change
is in his prakruti. Regardless of who the person may be; it does
not take long for their prakruti to become delirious – the reason
being the body is made up of the tridosha of kapha, vayu and
pitta. If the kapha, vayu or pitta increase within a person, he
becomes delirious. (In Ayurveda these tridosha, or humors,
govern all biological, psychological and physio-pathological
functions of the body, mind and consciousness. They act as basic
constituents and protective barriers for the body in its normal
physiological condition; when out of balance, they contribute to
disease processes.)
Do not speak ill of the guru
What are the jivas (the human beings) of this fifth time cycle
like? They are the very beings ( jivas) who have criticized in their
previous lifetimes. Therefore, if the guru makes a mistake due to a
fault of his prakruti, people will criticize him. Once you have
made someone your guru, if you are going to criticize him and this
weakness is going to get in the way, then it is better that you do
not make him your guru. Otherwise, there is a terrible liability in
doing so. After making someone your guru, do not criticize him. The Guru and the Disciple 89 90 The Guru and the Disciple

51. No matter what the guru is like, revere him until the end. If you
cannot revere him, then never criticize him because to look at the
fault of the guru is the fifth ghaati karma (one of five grave demerit
karma).That is why they teach, “Be careful – the guru is the fifth
ghaati, so if you look at the guru’s fault, know that you will fail.”
A man came and told me that his guru had told him to leave
and not to go back to him and since then he has not had the desire
to go back. So I explained to him that it did not matter whether he
goes back or not, but he should ask for forgiveness from his guru.
‘When you ask for forgiveness, you become free from the world.
You may have asked for forgiveness verbally. Now, ask for
forgiveness through your mind and do your pratikraman at home
according to whatever I have written on this piece of paper.’ So
someone here wrote down the pratikraman vidhi for him.
Do not fall into gossip about the guru you have chosen
because everything is according to unfolding karma
(udayakarma). Man cannot do anything. Now, to not raise
objections is also wrong but you must raise them with vitaragata,
i.e., detachment or without raag-dwesh, not by throwing dirt.
You can comment, ‘It should not be this way,’ but do it
‘dramatically’ (superficially), because the guru’s karma is unfolding.
Besides, what are you going to do by finding faults in him? What
do you think?
Questioner: Yes, that is right.
Dadashri: And you should be thankful to the guru because
he pulled you out of these boundaries, he made you progress, so
do not forget that. How can you forget the grace of your guru? So
go and visit him. After making someone your guru, you should not
spoil your bhaav (feelings) for him at all. Be very careful of this.
The danger in the guru-disciple relationship
If a guru says to his disciple, ‘You have no sense,’ the
disciple will go away. He goes away because he feels insulted. If
he retaliates and says to the guru, ‘Your brain does not work and
you have become my guru?’ things would get even worse.
You were bowing down to him yesterday and today you
are throwing insults at him? You can never do that to the one you
have been holding in the highest regard. Do not revere him again
if you are going to attack him.
If your guru says that you are not to go anywhere from here
after eleven, you should not do so even if your mind becomes
very restless. Some people remain completely in compliance
(aadhinta) with the guru’s instructions. But the gurus today are
so weak and inadequate, that the disciple, out of frustration, will
say, ‘This guru is useless.’ Once a disciple says this, all efforts
and achievements of the disciple go to waste.
Say a disciple has done a lot of work for the guru, say for
ninety-nine years he has done good things, and for just six months
the guru does something wrong. By criticizing the guru, the disciple
can ruin all his spiritual gains.
Therefore, if one does not remain compliant and
surrendered (aadhin) to the guru, he can ruin everything in no
time, the reason being that the relationship of a guru-disciple is
like a gunpowder factory; nothing else is like that. Only this
relationship is explosive. You may have done everything, but
this ‘explosiveness’ comes with a very heavy price. Therefore,
be very careful, be very aware, because even a small spark will
destroy ninety-nine years worth of work. In addition to that,
you will get burned.
Negative thoughts of the guru converted to positive thoughts
One man told me, ‘There is a great Sant Purush (saint),
that I go to see and whose darshan I do. But lately I am having
bad thoughts about him.’ When I asked him what kind of thoughts,
he said, ‘I have thoughts like he is worthless and wicked.’ I asked
him if he likes having such thoughts. He told me that he did not The Guru and the Disciple 91 92 The Guru and the Disciple

52. and then asked me how he could stop them. He asked if there
was a solution.
What would you do here? Who is at fault here? Is the guru
at fault?
Questioner: The fault lies with the one who has bad
thoughts.
Dadashri: Yes, so what did I tell him? I told him, “Realize
that negative thoughts such as, ‘He is worthless and wicked,’ are
not in your control. At that time, you should say, ‘He is very
beneficial to me.’ If the mind says, ‘He is very bad,’ just say, ‘He
is very beneficial to me.’ This way it will be taking away through
subtraction, all the additions you have done and bring everything
down to a zero. This is the solution I am showing you.”
The Khojas have the true guru worship
I have observed one thing amongst the Khojas (a sect of
Shi’a Ismaili branch of Islam); they all worship the same guru and
claim him to be the greatest guru. When a guru of the Hindu religion
went to America, and got married, his followers started to call
him worthless. All disciples were upset and said that he should
not commit such a crime. Hey you! Are you calling your guru
whom you have been worshipping until now, useless? Therefore,
they asked me whether such a guru was not considered worthless.
I told them, ‘Go ask these Khojas.’ I find that their disciples are
the greatest in the entire world. When their guru married a foreigner,
even then his disciples celebrated the occasion. His followers will
tell you, ‘How can we object to that. He has all the right to do so.
We should celebrate immediately.’ His followers became very
happy and celebrated with a procession. We, on the other hand,
get upset even when our guru marries one of his own. You should
not do as your guru does but do as he tells you.
If anyone in the entire world has the knowledge of how to
have a guru, it is the Khojas. If your guru were to get married or
for that matter even if he interfered with someone, you would
beat him up. The Khojas, on the other hand, celebrated even
when their guru married a European woman. That is what we call
a disciple. You should not look for faults in a guru. If you must,
look for faults in everyone else, but not in the guru. It is a grave
liability to do so. Otherwise, do not make anyone your guru.
I am not asking you to worship your guru, but do not talk
negatively about your guru. Indeed, if you were to worship him,
your work would be accomplished. However, people do not have
the capacity to worship in the right way. What I am saying is this;
make a crazy person your guru – the craziest one you can find –
but if you remain sincere to him, you will be blessed. All your
kashayas will come to an end if you remain sincere to a crazy
guru. But you have to understand at least this much. A person’s
intellect should reach this level, should it not? That is why idols of
stone have been placed for you, knowing the kind of people there
are, so that they cannot look for faults in them. But, alas, people
find faults even in an idol of stone. These people are thinkers and
so they are likely to find faults in a guru. Instead of looking at their
own faults, they look for faults in their guru. That is how ‘alert’
they are.
I give you a guarantee that it is possible to attain moksha
within just three more lives if you stand by your guru, no matter
how crazy he may be. But that guru must be living. That is why
people have started keeping idols, because they could not afford
to have a living guru.
So what I am saying is do not destroy what you have
decided upon. It is not an ordinary or an easy thing to make a
guru. So make sure before you make anyone a guru.
The non living guru
Questioner: When a person makes someone his guru, he
does not have the complete understanding at the time. The Guru and the Disciple 93 94 The Guru and the Disciple

53. Dadashri: But when he becomes a ‘sack of understanding’
does that mean he can call the guru worthless? Instead, it is better
to adopt what Bheem (An important man in Mahabharat Indian
Epic) had done. Do not adopt what others do. Every time Bheem
had to bow to a guru, he would get the shivers; he felt insulted. So
what solutions did he come up with? He thought, ‘I cannot afford
to have these gurus. All my brothers sit here unaffected, but my
ego starts to jump around the moment I see them. I start having
negative thoughts. I must have a guru because otherwise what
predicament will I be in without one?’ So he found a solution for it.
He buried a clay pot upside down in the ground, painted it
black and wrote on it in red ink, ‘ Namo Neminathaya.’ (I pay
obeisance to the Lord Neminath). Neminath was dark skinned
so he painted the pot black and then he worshipped it. Yes, that
pot was the guru and he, the disciple.
Here, where the guru was not directly visible to him, he did
not feel shy, whereas he felt shy in the presence of a living guru.
He would not bow to him yet he continued to worship the black
pot buried in the ground. Although he began worshiping this way,
he still reaped benefits from it. That is because there is no risk of
any negativity arising here, to poison the guru-disciple relationship.
Even here in this situation, if one were to feel happy and elated,
one will attain salvation.
So Bheem would go and sit there from dawn till sunset.
This guru was better because at least he would not get upset or
have any problems. And if he ever got offended, all he had to do
was dig up the pot and throw it away. But the faith that you put in
a living guru can poison you. There is God within the person
whereas here there is merely your projection of God in the pot.
Questioner: Did he get any benefit out of making the pot
his guru?
Dadashri: He did benefit for sure. He did not do it directly,
but at least he did it indirectly. Did he not bow down to Lord
Neminath? Here some parents tell their small child to bow down
to Dadaji but the child would not do that. Then when they insist,
the child would eventually turn around and bow down. What does
that suggest? It is the ego. That is how even Bheem had an ego
and so he worshipped the pot in this way. Still, he definitely received
benefits in return. This actually happened. Lord Neminath, the
twenty-second one of the past twenty-four Tirthankaras, was alive
at that time.
Questioner: So he was pratyaksh (present)!
Dadashri: Yes, he was pratyaksh.
Questioner: So in the end he worshipped him.
Dadashri: Yes, but he worshipped Lord Neminath through
naming (naam) and establishing ( sthapana) him as the pot.
Questioner: But worshipping the pot – is it not an inanimate
object?
Dadashri: It is like this: everything in this world that you
see through your eyes is all inanimate ( jada); nothing is animate
(chetan).
Questioner: A pot cannot give answers to our questions
like you do, can it?
Dadashri: A pot will not give you the answer, but do not
make someone your guru if you are going to let him down or if
you are going to ruin things for him. Make him your guru only if
you are going to remain sincere. I give you good advice, and then
it is up to you what you do with it. There is grave danger if you
discard your guru halfway through. It is better to kill yourself than
to hurt a guru.
Grave danger in uprooting a guru
Do not accept a known guru as guru, and if you do, then
do not turn your back on him. Use a pot if you do not like him.
The Guru and the Disciple 95 96 The Guru and the Disciple

54. The pot will not have any problems. Worship it because your
buddhi (intellect) will not be active there and your work will get
done. Now who would be so careful that he would not allow his
intellect to interfere? How can one understand all this?
Questioner: At the time we make someone our guru, he
appears to be very good, he appears to have good attributes; he
appears incomparable. But what should we do when he turns out
to be fraudulent and dishonest after we make him our guru?
Dadashri: Instead of that, you should not establish him as
a guru. It is better to use a pot instead. At least you will not have
to throw it out some day. The pot will not create problems for
you, will it? It will not do much, but it will give you some help.
Questioner: The guru has been established but the intellect
does not go right away and therefore we see negativity in him.
What should we do about that?
Dadashri: You will see the negative, but you should not
do anything wrong once you have established him as a guru.
You have to tell the intellect ( buddhi), ‘What I say goes and not
what you say. Now we are competitors; there is you and there
is me.’
It is very dangerous to uproot a guru once you have made
him your guru. People in India are paying the price for such
mistakes. One does not know how to establish a guru. They
establish one today and uproot him tomorrow. This is not
acceptable. Why do you have to interfere with whatever the guru
is doing after you make him your guru? At one time you were
satisfied and made him your guru because you did not see any
problems with him. Now you are finding faults with him? The one
who makes this mistake, does not attain moksha; he goes to hell.
You cannot find faults with the Guru later on
So look for a good guru, someone who will win your heart.
You need a guru that will make your heart happy; a guru that will
still your heart forever, a guru over whom you will never spoil
your mind. Make such a person your guru. Make the one with
whom you will feel peaceful forever, your guru; you will never
have negative feelings towards him after making him a guru.
Otherwise, you will have differences with him later. If differences
occur after having accepted him as a guru, do not allow those
differences. If, once you have accepted him, you start to judge
him by thinking, ‘Some guru he turned out to be!’ then that is not
acceptable. Tell your buddhi, ‘He cannot turn out any different.
He is the same person that you saw before.’
So what did I say? Make someone your guru that your
eyes will accept. Then one day, if that guru gets upset with you,
do not look at that. You should look at him the same way you did
when you accepted him. Did you not approve him? What a
woman saw in her husband the day she approved him as her
husband, is the same face she will hang on to, even if his face
becomes ruined because of small pox. What else can she do?
Only then can her life go on; how else is she to pass her days?
Similarly, you should see the guru in the same light if you want to
get rid of your swachhand (ego and intellect guided acts). You
should not look for faults in your guru. Once you choose a guru;
that is it! Live your life without looking at a single fault of his.
Otherwise, you can go somewhere else. Therefore, find one that
is acceptable to you and then do not find faults in him. But people
do not understand this point and then they choose gurus.
The Gnani Purush is the idol of faith
Questioner: If we have faith (shraddha) in a guru
regardless of what he is like, will that faith bear fruits?
Dadashri: Your faith will bear fruits only if you do not
develop negative feelings and intent ( abhaav) for him, even when
he acts crazy. The Guru and the Disciple 97 98 The Guru and the Disciple

55. Questioner: So, if we have faith in the guru, can we excel
beyond our guru?
Dadashri: You certainly would, only if you do not develop
negative feelings for him. There is a living God within that guru. It
worked for Bheem even when he made a pot his guru. It is your
faith that works, is it not? A person who has a habit of faulting
others will go down if he does the same for his guru, when his
guru says something wrong. If you have the energy to take care of
your guru, then no matter what crazy things he does or whether
he becomes delirious, if you can take care of him, it is worth
making him a guru. But people do not put up with the guru until
the end. They do not know how to do that, do they?
Questioner: If we place complete faith even in an unworthy
person, it will bring forth benefits; will it not?
Dadashri: Why not? But you should not change after
establishing it.
What is all this? Shall I tell you the truth? Shall I say it
openly? It is not the guru, but your faith alone, that gives you the
fruit. Whoever the guru may be, it is your faith that gives you the
result. Not even this idol gives you the results; it is your faith that
will bear fruits-results. The stronger your faith, the greater the
instant benefit.
It is like this: faith on anyone does not remain continuously;
it comes and goes in this world. The Gnani Purush is the exclusive
idol of faith ( shraddha ni murti). Faith comes to everyone upon
meeting him. As soon as you see or hear him, you develop faith in
him. The Gnani Purush is the idol of faith. He liberates you for
sure. It is your faith that gives you the fruit in all cases.
Does one have to keep faith or does it come naturally?
Questioner: I have closely tested every religion, but I do
not have any faith in any of them. Why is that? What should I do
about it?
Dadashri: There has to be such a place where faith arises
spontaneously (with Gnani), should there not be? Until then, you
have to make sure whether the faith is in something beneficial or
harmful. There is no problem if that faith is in something beneficial
and if that faith is becoming strong. Your faith should not lie in
harmful things.
Questioner: I do not have any faith in any person or religion
whatsoever. What is the reason behind this? Even sitting in the
satsang of elevated saints, I do not experience any peace, so who
is at fault here?
Dadashri: If you went expecting to find pure gold
somewhere and instead, found imitation gold, you will not have
any faith. Thereafter, a man once bitten will be twice as shy the
next time around!
Questioner: One should keep faith in his guru.
Dadashri: No. Faith does not have to be kept; it has to
come naturally. It is wrong to keep faith. Faith has to come
naturally.
Questioner: If we keep more faith in the guru, and keep
on doing so, do we not attain more through that faith?
Dadashri: But the critical thing is that keeping faith does
not work. Faith has to come naturally.
Questioner: For the most part, everywhere you go the
gurus tell you, “Keep faith.”
Dadashri: And I am telling you not to keep faith. Do not
keep faith in me at all. Do not keep faith anywhere. Keep faith
when you sit in a bus or a car but not in these people. Faith has to
come naturally.
Questioner: Why?
Dadashri: A stamp will stick only if there is glue on it,
The Guru and the Disciple 99 100 The Guru and the Disciple

56. right? Will it stick without glue? When I was twenty-five years
old, I had gone to a certain guru. He told me, ‘You will understand
all this if you keep faith in me,’ so I asked, ‘For how long?’ He
replied, ‘For six months.’ I said to him, “Sir, it does not come
even now! Apply such glue so that my ‘stamp’ will stick. Here I
am trying to stick it; I am trying to make my faith stick but it keeps
falling off. Now tell me something that will make faith come to
me.” What do you think? Should you have to keep faith or should
it come to you naturally?
Questioner: It should come naturally.
Dadashri: Yes, naturally. When I told him to say something,
he responded, ‘How can that be so? You have to keep faith. Do
all these people not keep faith?’ I told him that doing that did not
suit me. For how long can faith without ‘glue’ stick? You need
glue to make it stick immediately and not have it come off ever
again. The paper will tear, but it will not come off. If he tells you
that your ‘glue’ is not enough, then you should tell him, ‘No, the
stamp is mine, but you have to apply the glue (faith). If you do
not apply the glue, the stamp comes off even before he stamps
it, and I end up paying the penalty. Paste the glue on the stamp
and if you have run out of glue, make a paste out of wheat flour.’
Therefore, faith is something that remains once it is established;
it cannot be removed. One can get tired of stamping, but it will
not come off.
The thoughts, speech and acts that make faith arise
Questioner: When faith comes, on what basis does it
come?
Dadashri: It comes based on one’s guru’s conduct,
effective thoughts, speech and acts ( charitra). There is energy
behind his conduct. You do not need to establish faith where one’s
speech, conduct and humility win your heart; it will definitely be
established on its own. I tell people not to keep any faith here, but
still their faith becomes established. And, in other places, their
faith goes away immediately with very little effort. Therefore, real
faith will be established when the guru’s speech, conduct and
humility ‘steal your mind and win your heart.’
Questioner: In order for faith to be established, is speech
the most important aspect?
Dadashri: When he starts to speak, faith will come to you
that very moment, and you will feel, ‘Oh ho ho! He says such
wonderful things!’ Your work is done if faith becomes established
on his words. It is not acceptable to have faith one time and not
the next. You should have faith in him every time you hear him.
His speech is first class. Even if he is dark and has scars from
small pox, if his speech is ‘first class’, realize that faith will be
established there.
Questioner: What else is required for faith to come?
Dadashri: That he is so awe-inspiring that the mere sight
of him will make you feel at peace. We can tell him, ‘It is alright if
you do not say anything, but show me such beauty and charm that
faith will come to me.’ But elsewhere there is no physical beauty
either, so how can one have faith on them? The guru’s physical
appearance should be such that one will be attracted to him
immediately. But here there is no attraction at all. There is no
magnetism of the personality. Even if he had an attractive face,
there would be some inner pull. But neither the face nor the speech
is attractive. That is not acceptable here. If gnan is attractive, it
will produce faith. Here ‘our’ Gnan is attractive and, therefore, it
gives rise to faith ( shraddha). It will for sure. And elsewhere,
even if one has oratory skills, it will suffice.
Now even if the worldly guru does not know how to speak
and you feel at peace, you should know that it is worth having
faith in him. Every time you are agitated and you go to him and
feel at peace, you should know that it is worth having faith in him. The Guru and the Disciple 101 102 The Guru and the Disciple

57. If the atmosphere is pure, know that this man is pure and that it is
here that faith will develop.
A seeker cannot be like this
Faith should become so firmly established that it will not go
away, no matter how hard someone tries to remove it. Faith that
is forced upon you will go away, and faith that you have lost has
to be forced back onto you. This is what happens everywhere in
this world. People’s faith will remain for six months in one place,
two years in another place, and five years some other place, but it
will go away again.
Therefore, do not keep faith on any guru in this world. You
will be trapped whenever you do. Remain with a guru only if faith
comes on its own. Faith should come to you on its own. For how
long will faith that you have to ‘keep’ last?
One prominent businessperson tells me, ‘I have tremendous
faith in this guru.’ I asked him, ‘Do you know why you have faith
in him? You have faith in him if he gives you special treatment and
attention in front of large crowds.’ Would a true seeker allow this
kind of faith? I was a seeker. I had told my guru, “Speak in a way
that my faith arises naturally. I do not like it when you sweet-talk
me and say things like, ‘Welcome Ambalalbhai, you are such a
big contractor, you are like this, and you are like that.’ It is
meaningless when you try to establish faith in me by feeding my
pride. Curse me if you have to, but say something so that faith
arises naturally.” Otherwise, people will start to have faith when
the guru calls them and welcomes them with attention feeding their
pride. They will think, ‘It is nice here.’
Questioner: But educated and experienced thinkers will
catch on right away, will they not?
Dadashri: Yes, the educated and experienced ones will
be able to tell right away that it is all wrong. So how long will
people put up with wrong things?
The ‘bapji’ (guru) welcomes them nicely in order to
establish their faith. ‘Welcome Sheth (honorable businessman),
welcome.’ He gives a lot of importance to this sheth, but why not
anyone else? It’s because he feels, ‘This sheth might be useful
someday. If I need some reading glasses or something else, he
will be useful.’ Now the sheth trades in the black market, and
bapji knows about this but he thinks, ‘What is it to me? If he
trades in the black market, he will have to pay for it, but I will
need glasses someday, won’t I?’ What is the sheth thinking? He
is thinking, ‘There is no problem. See bapji gives me a lot of
respect, does he not? I have not become bad.’ Now when will he
believe he has turned bad? If bapji tells him, ‘Hey you! If you
want to do this kind of business, then don’t come here.’ Then he
will think, ‘I will have to change the way I do business otherwise
bapji will not let me in.’ How long can such a faith last? It will last
for six to twelve months and then it will go way.
There is no liberation without this type of faith
So the kind of faith you need is one that will come despite
my shouting abuses at you. Faith will also come because of pride
(maan) fed by the guru, but it will go away after awhile. Do you
understand? If, once your faith has been established, it does not
go away, even if your guru were to yell abuses at you or beat you;
that is what we call ‘unshakable faith’. Is this possible? There is
no moksha without having this kind of faith. I guarantee you this.
It can never be called faith if you go away from the guru
because you found it inconvenient to be with him. In that case, are
you looking for your own convenience or moksha? If you go away
because you find it to be inconvenient, can you call that faith?
What do you think? Faith means to surrender everything.
Faith will arise here in front of the Gnani because of the
truth
I am not telling you to keep faith in me because I am not a The Guru and the Disciple 103 104 The Guru and the Disciple

58. man that asks people to have faith. To the fifty thousand or so
people that come here to satsang, I tell them not to keep faith in
what I say. I tell everyone not to believe a single word I say and
do not keep faith in me. Accept what I say only if your Self accepts
it, otherwise I am not inclined towards making you accept what I
say.
Without fail, you will begin to have faith because of my
speech. Faith does not come because people have never heard
the truth and once people hear the truth, faith will come, without a
doubt. Faith is not established because the truth has not been
heard. Even if you tell them not to have faith, faith will become
established, because in general man is not willing to let go of the
truth, even if you insult him. Even if you decide that you do not
want to keep faith, here your faith will come. Even if you claim,
‘What was wrong with what I was doing before?’ faith in me will
arise; that is why one is ready to break his previous faith that he
had for such a long time; in so many lifetimes. Why is that? Because
he becomes convinced that until now everything he had heard
and seen has turned out to be wrong. When everything that you
have done so far proves to be wrong, do you not feel that all your
efforts were in vain?
Questioner: Yes.
Dadashri: Faith will adhere to the truth. It has no choice
but stick.
Obstinate ego and greed impede faith
Nevertheless, faith does not come to some people. What
is the reason for this? It is because they have created obstacles.
Faith will not come to only the greedy businesspersons and those
who are intoxicated with the ego of ‘I know.’ Otherwise, workers
and laborers will have faith right away because they do not have
any ego about knowing and they do not have greed over their
bank balances. When a person does not have these two
weaknesses, he will be able to recognize the truth right away.
These two diseases impede one’s progress; they create obstacles
of ‘I know’. Otherwise, faith in the Gnani Purush will come very
easily. People have created obstacles; they have built ‘partition
walls.’ These clever people are very thorough; they have become
perfect in their resistance.
Every human being whose intellect has developed, and has
the ability to understand, will have to accept my words without
fail. This is because my words are such that they will shatter all the
veils within and directly reach the Soul within. They are words
that will awaken the bliss of the Self. Therefore, anyone that has
the Self within, whether he is a Vaishnav or a Jain, if they listen to
what I say, will have faith, without doubt. However, if they want
to be obstinate and deliberately speak ill, that is a different matter.
There are obstinate people, are there not? They talk obstinately
even if they know and understand, don’t they? Are there any
obstinate people in India? Have you seen such people?
Questioner: Most of the people are like that.
Dadashri: That obstinacy has to be removed. If someone
deliberately creates separation due to differences of opinions
(matbhed), I tell him, ‘Your Soul agrees with what I am saying,
but you are talking obstinately.’ When I tell him this, he will
understand and agree with me. But why do people not refrain
from talking obstinately? It is because they have brought that kind
of baggage with them. Faith will not come to those who are
obstinate. Otherwise, the Gnani Purush is considered a living idol
of faith.
Gnani Purush is the idol of faith
The Gnani Purush is such that the moment you set eyes on
him, faith will come to you. He is the idol of faith ( shraddha ni
murti) and faith will come without fail. He is called shraddheya
(one in whom the faith becomes established naturally). He is this The Guru and the Disciple 105 106 The Guru and the Disciple

59. for the entire world. This current time is so odd that one can never
find a living idol of faith. Occasionally, such a being takes birth on
this planet. An idol of faith means you will be filled with faith the
moment you set eyes on him. You do not have to ask anything;
faith will come automatically. The scriptures have called such a
person, ‘an idol of faith.’ Occasionally, and rarely, such a being
can be found and he will accomplish the work of the world’s
salvation. This incarnation ( avatar) of Mine is such that people
will have faith in Me, without fail.
All we need is an idol of faith. Even the most worthless
person will have faith immediately upon looking at the face of
such a person. The moment he looks upon the idol of faith, his
entire inner intentions and state will turn around. Such an idol of
faith is born very rarely. The Tirthankara Lords used to be such.
So what should one become like? He should become the
idol of faith. Why will faith not come to people? He himself is the
reason why. Then he will claim, ‘What can I do when people
don’t keep faith?’ Now the guru that has no substance will keep
telling people to have faith in him. Hey you! What about the fact
that faith never comes to people where you are concerned? You
become the idol of faith so that people will begin to have faith in
you the moment they see you.
How can vairagya (dispassion towards worldly things) arise?
Questioner: Those who preach; their conduct is different
from what they say, so how can that lead to any faith? This
happens, does it not?
Dadashri: Yes, it is no ordinary event, that this faith
becomes established. Most of the religious talks are for the
entertainment of the mind, because the content is not true. These
only entertain the listener.
Questioner: These talks only entertain and that is why the
effect of dispassion ( vairagya) does not arise.
Dadashri: Now where will dispassion ( vairagya) arise?
From what kind of speech? Dispassion will arise in that speech
which is the truth; it will come from speech that is not being used
for the wrong path; it will come from speech that leads to the Self;
it comes from that which has vachanbud (speech with special
spiritual powers and energy) . Otherwise, how can dispassion arise?
These are all ‘speaking books’! Just as dispassion does not arise
from books that talk, it does not arise from the gurus who recite
books. These gurus have become like books. If dispassion does
not arise within you, then know that the guru you are listening to is
a book. The energy of speech has to be there, does it not?
If the listener does not develop faith, the guru is at fault
Questioner: Often, when about twenty-five people or so
sit together to listen to a spiritual talk, five of them are touched by
it while the other twenty remain unaffected. Who is at fault here,
the listener or the preacher?
Dadashri: How can the poor listener be at fault here? The
one giving the sermon is at fault. The listeners are that way, to
begin with anyway. They openly declare, ‘Sir, I don’t know
anything and that is why I have come to you.’ But the preachers
have found a way to escape and save themselves. They will say,
‘You are not doing this or that.’ They cannot speak this way.
People come to you for help and you say this in response? The
fault lies with the preachers. This situation is not like that of a
schools where the children don’t do any work. Here people
come for the benefit of their Self and they do not have any bad
intentions. They do not come here expecting worldly or material
things. Therefore, the preachers are the ones who have to do
everything.
I tell everyone, ‘If you are not able to do anything, then I
am to be blamed. You are not at fault.’ If you come to me asking
me to ‘repair’ you, and the repair is not done, then who is at
fault?The Guru and the Disciple 107 108 The Guru and the Disciple

60. Questioner: If twenty-five of them are sitting and five of
them benefit and twenty do not; even then it is the guru’s fault?
Dadashri: The guru verily is at fault.
Questioner: What is his mistake?
Dadashri: He does not have charitrabud - the effective
energy through thoughts, speech and acts. He has to nurture and
develop his charitrabud. If we place a block of ice here at night,
whether people know about it or not, everyone will feel its effect,
will they not?
Therefore, charitrabud is necessary, but these gurus don’t
have charitrabud and that is why they get irritated with their
disciples. That is not acceptable, is it? People are the way they
are. They have come to the guru seeking guidance. The guru must
not have any quarrels or conflict with them.
The qualities needed to impart knowledge
Questioner: One is to attain Gnan through one’s own
experience, that is to have spontaneous enlightenment, and the
other to attain it by listening to someone’s sermon; can you explain
the difference between the two?
Dadashri: As far as sermons are concerned, they are the
same as what we read in the scriptures. But it is a different thing if
the one giving the sermon has vachanbud such that his words will
reach deep within you and remain there for months on end.
Otherwise, the sermons of today are such that they enter through
one ear and go out the other; there is no value in these sermons.
There is no difference between their sermons and the books.
We especially need words that are so delivered; that they
will ring in our ears months after we have heard them. Such
sermons are regarded as vitamins for the Soul. Such sermons
happen very rarely. However, the guru needs to have purity of
conduct in worldly interactions. He needs to have charitrabud
(energy effective in thoughts, speech and acts) behind it. He should
be a sheelvan (purity); it should be someone in whom the kashayas
(inner weakness of anger, pride, deceit and greed) are minimal
and ineffective.
Heed the Gnani’s warning about preaching
All those who give sermons tell us, ‘Do this, do that,’ but
when it comes down to them, they get irritated and exasperated.
They keep giving sermons. In reality who has the right to give
sermons? The one who does not get upset in the slightest extent,
has the right to do so. However, these people are such that they
will strike back the moment you say something against them. ‘I
am someone who knows a lot. I am like this and I am like that.’
They speak under the influence of the illusion, ‘I…I…I…I…’
and this is precisely why there is no progress.
This is the path of the vitarag Lords (the omniscient free
from attachment). This path has many dangers for the preacher.
To utter even a single word, carries tremendous liability. Currently
all preachers carry a tremendous liability. But people do not or
understand this and that is why they give sermons. You should
check and test yourself to see whether you are an updeshak (a
preacher). An updeshak should be free from artadhyan and
raudradhyan (adverse internal meditation). It does not matter if
one has not attained shukladhyan (the meditation as the Self)
because his dharmadhyan (a state void of artadhyan and
raudradhyan) is increasing. However, if he continues to
experience artadhyan and raudradhyan, then the liability is his.
The Lord has said that as long as there is anger, pride, deceit and
greed within; do not preach to anyone.
This is why I say, when you give sermons ( vyakhyan), you
simply have the right to do swadhyaya (study the Self); you do
not have the right to give updesh (preach). If in spite of this you
preach, then because you preach in the presence of kashayas
within, you will go to hell. The one who listens to you will not go
The Guru and the Disciple 109 110 The Guru and the Disciple

61. to hell. Despite being a Gnani, I have to speak sternly in this way.
There is tremendous compassion behind what I am saying. What
reason does a Gnani have to be stern? For which reason does the
one who is constantly in the state of bliss, constantly in the state of
the Self, need to speak such stern words? Despite being a Gnani,
I have to say this: ‘Beware! Keep studying.’ You can tell people,
‘I am studying the scriptures and let us all study together.’ But
you must not preach in the presence of kashayas.
Vachanbud (energy or power of speech) is mandatory
You will not learn anything if I continue to preach to you,
but you will learn easily by observing my conduct. Therefore,
updesh (preaching) does not work here and such speech goes to
waste. However, I still cannot say that it is wrong. Therefore, no
one is wrong, but there is no use for it; it is all meaningless. What
do you call speech that has no vachanbud – no power of words?
You can tell the guru, ‘Your words are wrong. Why should it go
to waste? Your words should grow within; why do they not?’
How old are the words? Old words will not produce results.
Speech has to be pure; these words have to grow within. You
should tell him, ‘Say something that will have some effect in me.’
The power of speech is the main thing. What good is it if there is
no power behind a man’s speech?
A person is considered a guru when his speech has so much
energy that it produces results in us when he speaks. But here
they preach to us saying, ‘Get rid of your anger, pride, deceit and
greed,’ when they still have anger, pride, deceit and greed within
them. That is why everything is ruined, has it not? From a hundred
gurus, you may find two to five, who are good. The power of
words means whatever one speaks starts to take effect within the
listener. What good is it when there is no such power in words?
When I was young, I used to say, ‘You are preaching the
same things that are written in books, so what is the difference
between you and the books? On the contrary, the books are
better, at least I do not have to bow down to them the way I have
to you. Say something that will produce some kind of results within,
so that my chit (the inner component that knows and sees worldly
events and objects) will remain in it.’ What do they say? They tell
us, ‘Do this, do this, and do this.’ What will I do with this ‘do
this’? I cannot do it and you keep telling me to do it. You need
energy in your words. One is considered a guru when his words
have some effect on the other person; otherwise, he is not even a
guru. The Gnani Purush will give you moksha but when is one
considered a guru? It is when he has vachanbud (energy in words)
and there is no deceit or lying in his words. Do you understand
what I am saying?
Questioner: Yes, yes.
Dadashri: These talks are very profound. How are people
to understand this? These businesses (guru-disciple exploitation)
will continue to run. Let them run. Why should we meddle in them?
They run because of the current time cycle.
Otherwise, books say the same thing you (the guru) are
saying. So what is the difference between you and the book? If as
a living person you cannot do anything, then this book is better.
Should there not be at least some energy there? There may not be
the energy to liberate, but should there not be the energy for
improved worldly interaction? Show us something that will give
us peace in this worldly life. Peace will come to us if you yourself
are at peace. How can we have peace when you do not have it?
No one knows the method
A guru will tell you to be moral and sincere. Hey! Why
don’t you become moral first? If you become moral yourself, there
will be no need to tell me to become so. If you tell me this after
you become moral yourself, then I too will become moral. I will
become moral just by looking at you. We become what we see,
but the guru himself has not become moral yet. The Guru and the Disciple 111 112 The Guru and the Disciple

62. You see vitaragata (a state of complete unattachment to
anything worldly) in me and once you see it, everything will happen
automatically because if I show you how to do it personally, then
you will be able to adjust. You can become pure only if I am pure.
Therefore, there should be absolute purity.
I never tell you to become moral, I show you how. I never
tell you, ‘You do this, do good, and become that.’ I tell you how
to become moral. What do others do? They simply say, ‘Here,
this is the question and this is the answer.’ Hey you! Why don’t
you show me the method? The questions and the answers are in
the books already but why don’t you show me the method to
attain that? But, as yet, there has not been anyone who has shown
the method of how to get there. India would not be in the state it
is in today if there had been such a person. Look at the state of
India today!
Attributes of a true guru
Questioner: How would I know who is the right guru for
me?
Dadashri: One who has no buddhi (intellect) and
ownership of his body is the true guru. If he has ownership of his
body and you have ownership of yours, it will not work because
the two of you will collide.
The one who brings closure to your mind is your guru. If
you find such a guru, then why do you need any other guru?
You need a guru who can help you in every way. Therefore,
it is someone who will help you even in your financial difficulties.
If your guru has some money, he will tell you, ‘Son, here take this.
I have some money.’ That is how it should be. Guru means to
help; it is he who will take better care of you than your own parents.
Here the gurus take money from you through deceit.
The guru should be someone who lives for others and not
for himself.
The guru should be healthy and handsome. People will get
tired if he is not attractive. They will say, ‘Why did we end up
sitting here with him? The other guru was better looking.’ Make
him a guru only if you are not going to compare him with anyone
else. Be careful when you make someone your guru, otherwise,
there is no need to make a guru simply for the sake of having one.
He should not have inclination ( spruha) and he should not
be completely without inclination ( nispruha). Would he have any
inclination ( spruha) if he were to be completely without inclination
(nispruha)? Yes. He should be without inclination in matters
concerning the non-Self or worldly matters, and he should be full
of inclination in matters concerning the Self. Yes, he is not
completely without inclination ( spruha).
The guru should be someone who does not want anything;
he should have no desire for money or sex. Then there is no
problem with massaging his legs or head. You can serve him in
that way.
On the path of liberation, one’s guru should be an
Atmagnani (Self-realized). It is because of the absence of such
Self-realized gurus that everything is ruined.
When you are in harmony at home, you have found a guru
So I did not listen to anyone when it came to gurus because
I did not see any benefit in having one. I did not see any glow on
their faces. Show me five people who have improved because of
a guru. Show me someone in whom the weaknesses of anger,
pride, deceit and greed have gone away, or in whom separation
because of differences of opinions have been reduced because of
a guru.
Questioner: How capable are we in recognizing whether
we have found our true guru?
Dadashri: When separation due to differences of opinion
The Guru and the Disciple 113 114 The Guru and the Disciple

63. (matbhed) with your wife leaves, know that you have found a
real guru, or else you will continue to have matbhed. You will
continue to have conflicts with your wife every day. What good is
it when no lasting change occurs after having met a guru?
One’s conflict at home does not go away, one’s weakness
causing inner discord does not go away, and yet he claims he has
found a guru. You have met a guru if conflicts and discord at
home come to and end, otherwise how can you say you have met
a guru? Generally, people will try to pull you on their side and that
is how they live life. They make you turn the ego that was on one
side onto another side. If you meet a guru for six months, he will
at least teach you something so that conflicts in your home will go
away. Not only the conflicts in the home, but also the conflicts in
the mind will go away. If conflicts continue in your mind, then you
should leave that guru and find another one.
What good is the guru if your worries and matbhed do not
go away and conflicts and complications at home do not stop?
You have to tell that guru, ‘At home I still become angry with my
children; stop that for me, otherwise next year I will go
elsewhere.’ Can you say at least this much to a guru or not?
What do you think? Otherwise, these gurus keep getting the
sweets (money and respect from disciples) regularly in installments.
So this ignorance continues, not just in India, but everywhere else
too.
Test the guru before you make him your guru
Questioner: Is there a sure way of recognizing and being
sure that a person is a real guru?
Dadashri: As far as recognizing one, a real guru is someone
who, even if you insult him, does not have to forgive you;
forgiveness is an attribute that is spontaneous and natural within
him. Forgiveness is constant no matter how much you beat him or
insult him. He is very simple and guileless ( sarad). He does not
have any self-interest and he does not ask for any money from
you. He provides complete solutions to your problems and
questions. He will not strike back even if you were to irritate him
or make a mistake. What would you call a person who strikes at
you? An attacking cobra! I have told you all the different ways to
recognize a guru.
You should assess him before you make him your guru.
What is the point of making just anyone your guru?
Questioner: How can one know what he is going to be
like?
Dadashri: Have you ever seen the old worthless coins
with King Edwards and the Queen on it? People do not have faith
in those coins even when we assure them that they are
exchangeable as valid currency. So they tap them on a rock or
metal. You fool! You cannot tap Lakshmiji (money; Goddess of
wealth), this way. They still do. Why? They do it to check if the
coin is solid or hollow. If it rings, they will put it away in the safe
and discard it if it sounds hollow. So tapping a rupee is a way to
test it. Similarly, you should always test a guru.
Questioner: Do we have to examine him?
Dadashri: Test him! You may not know how to examine
him. How can a child do an examination of a person with the
caliber of a professor?
Questioner: What is the difference between a test and an
examination?
Dadashri: There is a great difference. In testing, all you
have to say is, ‘Sir, I do not feel that anything you have said so far
is true.’ He will become ‘tested’ immediately. He will strike back
and you will understand that he is aggressive and therefore this
‘shop’ is not for you. Change the shop! Will you not know that
you need to go to a different shop? The Guru and the Disciple 115 116 The Guru and the Disciple

64. Questioner: But Dada is it not disrespectful to say that to
a guru?
Dadashri: It is like this, if you do not disrespect him or
tease his ego in order to test him, how long will you remain sitting
there? Say you want the ‘Double Horse’ brand of silk; you go
from one shop to another, in search of it and someone recommends
that you go to the Khadi Bhandar, a storehouse of spun cloth.
Now if you go there but do not make inquiries and just sit there,
how long will you remain seated? Instead, you should say to him,
‘Sir, if you have the brand of Double Horse silk, then I will sit
even for six hours provided you have it.’ If he tells you he does
not, then you have to get up and leave.
Nevertheless, even here you are making a mistake. Do not
leave right away after testing the guru. When you tell him, ‘Your
gnan is not proper,’ that statement hurts him and you incur a liability
for being disrespectful. So you should tell him, ‘Sir, I sometimes
lose my mind and say inappropriate things.’ He may tell you not
to worry, but he still feels hurt by your statement. So you should
keep some money in your pocket; ask him, ‘Is there anything you
need, a pair of glasses perhaps? Tell me what you need.’ Or you
can offer him a shawl. Tell him, ‘Sir, please accept this shawl and
bless me by placing your hand on my head.’ He will be happy
then. You know that when you test the rupee by hitting it against a
rock, there are no karmic consequences, but here, with a living
person, you will have a claim against you, so settle the situation by
giving him a shawl. You will have to spend a hundred rupees in the
process, but at least you will have escaped becoming trapped in
that shop!
How long are you going to remain trapped like that?
The ultimate guru is the one who does not have any
attachment or abhorrence ( raag-dwesh). When you do not see
any change or anger in his eyes if you were to take away the food
you just served him, realize that he is the ultimate guru. Otherwise,
there is no substance in those who are affected by kashayas. Do
you understand all that?
Questioner: Yes.
Dadashri: So we are not using these tactics for the purpose
of his examination but rather to remain cautious. It appears bad if
it is done for the sake of examination. However, you must be
attentive for any changes in his eyes. Now when you remove the
plate away from him and you see a change in his eyes, you should
immediately tell him, ‘I am bringing you the food in a silver plate.’
This is the way to check out any changes in his eyes. We must
check these things out, should we not?
What is the point of bringing home goods that you were
cheated into buying? If you go out to buy a shawl, don’t you have
to inspect it? Don’t you have to unfold and open it up to see if it is
okay? Otherwise, when you bring it home and find a hole in it, will
people not question, ‘Why didn’t you check it before you
purchased it?’ That is why Shrimad Rajchandra says, ‘Look
before you make someone your guru; otherwise he will lead you
astray.’ Latching on to anyone who comes along will not work,
will it? What happens when you get cheated like this? Therefore,
you have to be vigilant everywhere.
The shepherd and the sheep
In the current time cycle of Kaliyug, you will not find a
good guru and, what is more, the one you make your guru will eat
you alive.
Questioner: That is true, but as an exception, can there
not be at least one good guru?
Dadashri: There may be a good guru, but he would not
have any understanding. So then what will you do with such a
guru? Those who do understand are such that they will exploit
others. Instead of that, it is better to sit at home and study the
The Guru and the Disciple 117 118 The Guru and the Disciple

65. books. So the gurus of today will not benefit you. Instead, it is
better to remain without a guru.
Questioner: According to our culture, a person without a
guru is naguno (has no qualities).
Dadashri: Where did you hear this?
Questioner: From a saint.
Dadashri: Yes, and what do they mean? It is not naguno
but naguro, meaning ‘without a guru’ (‘na’ = no). If a person
does not have a guru, people will call him a ‘ naguro.’
My kanthi (a traditional necklace of tiny wooden beads
given to the disciple by his guru) broke at the age of twelve and so
people kept calling me ‘ naguro.’ They kept telling me I had to
wear a kanthi and that they would arrange for me to wear one. I
asked them, “How can I get a kanthi from these people who
have no knowledge themselves and have no power to give
knowledge to others? They told me if I did not wear a kanthi,
people would call me ‘naguro.’ Now what is a ‘naguro’? I
thought that it might be a curse word or something like that. It was
not until I was older that I realized that it referred to a person
without a guru.”
Questioner: Is it necessary to go through all the vidhis
(special ceremonies and rituals) to wear a kanthi, beaded
necklace, and change clothes in order to make someone my guru?
Dadashri: There is no need for such things.
Questioner: Why do the religious gurus say that God will
help those who wear kanthis and not those who do not? Is that
true?
Dadashri: It is like this. The ‘shepherds’ have spread such
talks. Shepherds would tell their sheep, ‘Do not be a naguro and
wander around.’ So then the sheep would feel, ‘Oh ho ho! I am
not a naguro! So let me go and get a kanthi! Let me make a
guru!’ That is how they made gurus. They are the sheep and those
gurus are the shepherds. Nevertheless, I cannot use words like
this. But when you want to know the facts, then I tell you this
purely for your information and, I speak with vitaragata. Whenever
I say anything, it is without raag-dwesh (attachment or aversion).
I am a Gnani Purush; I am considered a responsible person. I do
not have any attachment or abhorrence anywhere.
Questioner: I met two or three ascetics who wanted me
to tie a kanthi on me and I declined.
Dadashri: Yes, but only the shrewd will not allow it; the
naive would allow it, will they not?
Questioner: If we have not tied a kanthi by any guru but
we feel an attraction towards a guru, and we take his gnan, can
that be regarded as an established guru-disciple relationship or
do we need to have a kanthi? Many scriptures and acharyas
(spiritual principals) say that one should not even look at the face
of someone without a guru.
Dadashri: It is like this: if you want to join a sect, then you
should tie a kanthi and if you want to remain free, then you should
not. Wear the kanthi of the one who gives gnan (knowledge).
What the sect is saying is that first, you should learn about this
standard (prescribed rituals and practices) and until then, you should
not be looking anywhere else.
Otherwise, how can one be called naguro? No one these
days is a naguro. Who used the word naguro in the first place?
The gurus with a kanthi started the whole concept so that they
would not lose any ‘customers.’ There is nothing wrong in not
wearing a kanthi. The kanthi creates kind of a psychological
effect. So what do all these sectarian opinions do? They push
their kanthis on others so that a person feels, ‘I belong to such
and such a sect,’ so there is a corresponding psychological effect.
The Guru and the Disciple 119 120 The Guru and the Disciple

66. However, that is good, it is not wrong. It is not harmful to us. You
should not worry about being a naguro. Will you feel insulted if
you were called naguro?
Questioner: No.
Dadashri: Why did you worry about being a naguro?
Questioner: It is because of talks about a kanthi.
Dadashri: Yes but you should tell the one tying the kanthi
on you, ‘How long will I keep this kanthi? I will keep it until I
gain something, or else I will break it off.’ You should make such
a deal with him. If he asks you what benefits you want, tell him
that all the conflicts at home should subside or else you will break
the kanthi and throw it away. That is what you have to say right
from the start but people don’t do this, do they? People continue
to wear the kanthi and the conflicts also continue. If conflicts
continue after tying a kanthi, then break it and tell the guru, ‘Here,
take your kanthi back. There is no power in your kanthi. You
have not blessed it properly. Bless it in such a way that we do not
have any conflicts at home.’
Questioner: They say that if we do not tie a kanthi then
even if we listen to their sermon, it will not bring results.
Dadashri: There you have it! ‘If you don’t tie a kanthi,
you will not attain the gnan!’ They intimidate people into submission.
Whom will you bow down to? God or the Guru
It is a good thing that they straighten people out by doing
this. Nevertheless, at least they do not let people slip. But where
is the talk of elevating anyone? The guru, himself, is not elevated!
Is it easy to elevate someone in this Kaliyug? This ‘hill’ is very
steep, but at least the gurus are not letting people slip. And because
people are not able to find anything else, they find whatever they
can and sit there. This is how one has to wander from one life to
another.
Questioner: It is said:
“Guru Govind dono khadey, kisko laagoo paaya?
“Guru and God both stand here, whom do I bow to?
Balihari Guru aapki, Govind deeyo bataayi. ”
The greatness is Yours my Guru, who showed me the Lord.”
~Saint Kabir
Dadashri: Yes, but who will you call a gurudev? A real
gurudev is the one who shows you God; this is what they are
saying. Nowadays the gurus recite these lines to establish their
status as a guru. But should you not ask them, “Sahib, I will call
you ‘gurudev’ when you show me God, just as it is written. Then
I will establish you as my guru. You yourself are still searching for
the Lord and so am I, so how can we both attain God?”
Otherwise, all the gurus today point to this very thing. Even
if they have not shown you God, they will make you sing about it.
Doing it this way, at least the gurus get some prasad (offering of
food)! All other ‘shops’ benefit from these words too, do they
not?
Questioner: But here, on this scale, the importance of the
guru is greater than God.
Dadashri: It is greater, but there have not been such gurus.
Actually, the “probationers” (trainee gurus) have benefited from
this. These raw gurus believe, ‘Now I am a guru, I showed you
God, so you should worship me.’ But of what use are these
probationers? God is one in whom the ego is gone. If there is any
state that is worthy of greater worship, it is of the one whose ego
is gone, the one whose ‘I-ness’ ( potapanu) is gone. Where the
‘I-ness is gone,’ everything is gone.
These ones who recite, ‘guru Brahma, guru Vishnu and
guru devo Maheshvara’ are not gurus. They exploit others in the
names of Brahma and Vishnu. People worship them because of
this mantra. This discussion is about a satguru. Satguru meansThe Guru and the Disciple 121 122 The Guru and the Disciple

67. a Gnani Purush. This discussion is of the one who knows and has
experienced the Sat - the Real; the Self; the Soul - but instead,
people have latched onto these ordinary gurus.
One should tell such make-shift-gurus, ‘Sir, I have no interest
in making a guru. I do not want a businessperson as a guru. I have
come to make the one who has no desire to become a guru - my
guru.’
There is no throne in Akram Vignan
Questioner: In the olden days, the legacy of gurus existed
in which the guru taught his disciple and then that disciple became
a guru himself and taught his disciples…
Dadashri: That was a true legacy. But such a legacy does
not exist today. Now they make heirs to the throne. How can you
accept a guru’s son as a guru? It is an abuse to establish a throne.
Questioner: Instead of a religious organization, it became
a social arrangement.
Dadashri: Yes, it became a social arrangement. Where
does dharma (religion) remain? It remains in its place. The
influence of Kaliyug came into play. One or two men would be
good, but after them, the heirs to their throne would take over.
Heirs to the thrones everywhere! Heirs are not always suitable. In
all other talents, or business, there is an heir. In religion, we cannot
have heirs to the guru’s throne. In all this ‘transference of the
throne,’ the one who has attained the Self, an Atma Gnani, should
be the heir.
Questioner: There were no thrones before, so where did
these thrones come from?
Dadashri: They were ‘discovered’ when things fell in the
hands of shrewd people. They opened up their own shops when
there was no one left. The blind ones will be mislead. I do not
know how we find such people in this country. People have started
this mischief; it continues to go on and on. People have become
heirs to thrones.
Who has the right to these thrones? The one who does not
have any anger, pride, deceit and greed has a right to this throne.
Do you not see justice in this?
Questioner: That is right.
Dadashri: So many people ask me why I started this Akram
path. I tell them that I have not started it; I simply became a nimit
(instrumental in the process). Why would I start it? Do I want to
create a throne here? Have I come here to create thrones? Am I
dethroning anyone? No, I do not create or destroy anything. There
is no such thing here and there is no throne here, is there? Those
who have thrones have problems. Where there are thrones, there
is no moksha there.
The grave danger of desire to be worshipped
People in religion have found these ways to uphold their
opinions and open shops for their own worship; hence, they did
not let people come out of that rut. They have misled people so
that people would worship them. Saboteurs say this is okay and
will not let anything else in. Saboteur means one with a desire to
be worshipped by others. The desire to be worshipped is a broker
ship of business, is it not?
If a religious book happens to fall in someone’s hands and
people ask him to read it out aloud for a group, from that moment
onwards a desire such as ‘now people will appreciate and worship
me’ wells up within him. If this happens, that individual should be
dismissed. How can such a desire arise within you after touching
a Gnani’s book? On the contrary, such a book should actually
destroy any such existing desires. Can you understand that such
desires to be worshipped arise in people?
Questioner: Yes.The Guru and the Disciple 123 124 The Guru and the Disciple

68. Dadashri: Then the competition starts within. He does not
like it if someone else is worshipped more than he is. People believe
that to be worshipped is moksha itself. There is grave danger in
this. The only person worth worshipping is someone who does
not have any quarrels with anyone in this world.
These gurus have a desire to be worshipped; they get a
desire to become gurus. Those fools! At least recognize the desire
Krupadudev- Gnani purush Shrimad Rajchandra had. He said,
“My exclusive desire is to know the absolute Sat (the eternal truth).”
Never in my life have I had a desire to be worshipped. It is
bothersome. We need to have a desire to worship anyone who is
above us. All you need is to worship and not to be worshipped;
that is all.
Questioner: Is pride (maan), desire to be worshipped
(poojavani kaamna), garvaras (indulgence in the sweet taste
of doer-ship), etc., not a part of ‘I-ness’ ( potapanu)?
Dadashri: All these things reinforce the ‘I-ness.’ A strong
‘I-ness’ will cause a quarrel with someone some day, will it not?
Then people will say, ‘Look, his weaknesses are in the open now.’
He will not attain anything once his ‘I-ness’ shows its presence.
That is why the desire to be worshipped does not leave, even
after numerous past lives. The beggary for this desire never leaves.
No name remains
Then they also have a desire for fame through name and so
they publish their names in books. Why did you not get married,
instead? At least your children would carry on your name. Why
do you want to keep a name here, after becoming a guru? Your
name even in a book?! They make them print things like, “My
grandfather is a guru, my father is a guru, etc!” They have started
to use names even in temples. They put plaques of, “This temple
was built by such and such a guru.” Do names ever remain? When
even the names of the married people do not remain, how would
the name of a monk ever remain? One should not have even a
desire to keep his name. Any desire is beggarliness.
Beggary makes you miss the goal of liberation
This beggary does not go away; the beggary for respect,
the beggary for fame, the beggary for sex, the beggary for money…
beggary, beggary, beggary! Have you ever seen anyone without
beggary? There is also the beggary for building temples, so they
involve themselves in building temples. When a person has nothing
to do, he will get involved in everything that will help him earn
fame. Why are you building temples? Do we not have enough
temples in India? But he runs around raising money in order to build
temples. The Lord has said that one will build temples, if it is written
so in the fruition of his karma; why are you getting involved in it?
In India, the human birth is not exclusively for building
temples. One is born in India exclusively to attain moksha. If your
goal is to become ekavtari (attain final moksha after one more
life), you will attain that in fifty, a hundred, or even five hundred
more lifetimes, should you let go of any other goals you may have.
You may get married, have children, become a doctor, build a
bungalow, but it is all immaterial. However, keep only one goal,
which is, since you are born in India, you want to acquire all that
is necessary to go to moksha. Come down to this one goal and
then you will find a solution.
There must not be any beggary of any kind within. You
should not get involved with fundraising for religion and neither
should you instigate anyone else to do so. You should not do,
make others do, or instigate others into doing anything. I have
become free from all beggary, even the one of building temples,
because I do not need anything in this world. I do not have any
beggary for fame, beggary for money, beggary for gold or beggary
for disciples. Thoughts about money or sex do not arise at all.
How can there be any beggary when even mere thoughts about
these, do not arise within?
The Guru and the Disciple 125 126 The Guru and the Disciple

69. Every human being has beggary for fame and respect. When
you ask anyone, ‘Do you have knowledge of how much beggary
you have in you? Do you have any kind of beggary?’ He will
reply that he has none. Oh ho ho! If someone were to insult you
right now, we would find out how strong the beggary for respect
lies within!
One may be a brahmachari (one who practices celibacy)
with reference to interaction with females, he may not have any
beggary for money, but there will be all other kinds of beggary for
fame. He will have beggary for disciples, for fame, and countless
other things. There is even beggary for disciples! He will say, ‘I
do not have any disciples.’ Now, what do the scriptures say? The
scriptures say that the one, who comes naturally, without your
searching, is a disciple.
God moves away from beggary
That is why I use the word bheekh – beggary. Others do
not use this word; they use trushna. Use the word ‘bheekh’!
That way, at least people’s beggary will go away. What does
trushna mean? It means thirst. Whether a person feels thirsty or
not, is not important. But this is your bheekh. How can God exist
where there is beggary? This word ‘ bheekh’ is such that one will
hang without being hanged!
You can see the world as it is, only after your beggary goes
away completely. As long as there is any beggary in me, I will not
see others as being beggars. When your own beggary goes away,
then everyone will appear as beggars.
One attains the state of Gnani when bheekh (beggary) of
every kind goes away. When does one attain the state of Gnani?
When his every bheekh goes away – bheekh for money, bheekh
for sex, any kind of bheekh!
If a person has no bheekh, then he is a God or a Gnani, or
whatever you want to call him. It is because of bheekh that the
common human being has become this way. That is why he is
begging, is he not? Where do you need to keep bheekh? With
the Gnani ! You have to go to the Gnani and ask for the gift of
love. The Gnani gives it anyway, but if you ask for it, what you
receive will be extra love. Is there not a difference between filtered
and unfiltered tea? It will make this much of a difference. Filtered
tea will not have any residue in it.
Where there is impurity nothing is gained
All these problems remain because of the presence of
bheekh (beggary). There is no purity there. Everywhere one looks;
it has become a business. Wherever there is any exchange of
money, it becomes a business. In these situations, one is always
ready to take worldly benefits. Worldly benefits are all businesses.
Even if the guru does not take anything but has a desire for respect,
it is still a worldly benefit, and until then it is nothing but a business.
India is such a country that everyone’s (every guru’s)
business carries on, but there is danger in all such businesses. You
should tell them, ‘you are doing this, but there is a liability in it.’
Questioner: Why are there so many shams in the name of
religion?
Dadashri: Then under what other name, if not religion,
will they carry on the charade? They will be beaten up if they tried
it under any other name. “ Bapji took ten rupees from me but if I
question him, what will I do if he puts a curse on me?” Therefore,
there is no outlet other than religion; there is no escape.
But we cannot say that everyone is like that. Five to ten
percent of the gurus are good people, but no one goes to them
because they do not have the power of speech ( vachanbud),
whereas other guru’s speech is mesmerizing and so everyone
gathers there. However, his intention is negative (beggary)
whereby one way or another he extracts money out of you. What
do you gain from such deceptive shops? On the other hand, what
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128 The Guru and the Disciple

70. is there to take from a shop, that is pure (without ulterior motives)
but has nothing in it? A pure person has nothing in his shop. In a
deceptive shop, they will give you goods but they will cheat you in
the process; they will give you adulterated goods.
It is a different matter if the guru has no need for anything,
where he does not need any money, he does not need to grow his
ashram or his following; such people are acceptable. People will
benefit there even if you call it a shop. It is fine if you do not get
any gnan (knowledge) there as long as he is pure. Nobody will
gain anything where there is impurity.
There is no need for an ashram
Questioner: In the Hindu and the Jain society there is the
custom of ashram (spiritual community). Is this appropriate?
Dadashri: That system was fine in the Satyug (era of the
time cycle characterized by oneness in thoughts, speech and acts),
in the third and fourth Ara (era). It is not appropriate in the fifth
Ara (the current time cycle of Kaliyug).
Questioner: Does the system of ashrams lead to divisions
and sects?
Dadashri: The system of ashram is a vehicle for creating
divisions and sects. Creators of these divisions are egotistic and
over wise. They create something new, something other than what
should be. There is no intention of going to moksha. They just
want to show their over-wise-ness. They continue to create new
divisions and then, when a Gnani arises, He unites them, stops all
the divisiveness. A hundred thousand Gnanis will have just one
opinion and one agnani (the one who is not Self-realized), has a
hundred thousand opinions.
Questioner: They call it an ‘ ashram’ (a place for resting),
but one has to make efforts there.
Dadashri: No, no. I will tell you how people have made
use of ashrams in India. When a person gets tired at home, he
will go and live there and eat and drink happily. That is how they
use the ashrams. Therefore, anyone who wants to reduce his
shram (mental and physical fatigue) and wants to eat, drink and
sleep; can have ashram (free from fatigue). There, in the ashrams,
he will not have a wife or anyone to bother him. At home, his
children quarrel. In the ashram, there is no wife or children to
bother him. There is solitude there and so a person can enjoy the
nice cool breeze and snore away without any bedbugs to bother
him. The exhaustion of the worldly life is reduced there.
Now it is good if one eats, drinks and sleeps. But he (the
guru) misuses it and, therefore, binds a birth in the lower life form.
He harms no one but himself only. There may be one or two good
gurus, but generally, the ashrams are tools for exploitation.
Questioner: Is there a need for ashrams and temples in
the path you are showing?
Dadashri: Here there is no ashram or any such thing. Can
there be any ashrams here? From the very beginning, I have
opposed ashrams. What have I been saying from the beginning?
I have said that I do not need any ashrams. People had
approached me to build an ashram but I told them no. What do
I need an ashram for? I do not need any ashram.
So I have said from the beginning that the one who is a
Gnani does not make the effort to construct an ashram. I will do
satsang even under a tree, if there is no place else to do it. I do not
have any objections. Everything is dependant upon unfolding
karma. Even Lord Mahavir used to do satsang sitting under a
tree; he did not go looking for any ashrams. I do not need even a
little room or anything like that. I do not have a need for anything.
Questioner: The words ‘Apratibaddha vihari’ (unbound
by anything) have been used for a Gnani.
Dadashri: Yes, I am a Gnani who moves about unrestricted
The Guru and the Disciple 129
130 The Guru and the Disciple

71. by dravya (effect) through thoughts, speech and acts, kshetra
(space or location), kaad (time), bhaav (intent)!
The whole world builds ashrams. You cannot afford the
weight of ashrams if you want to be free. It is better to beg for
food than to go to an ashram. The Lord has given the freedom to
beg for food. The Lord has said to take alms and work for the
salvation of others. The problem lies only in feeding your stomach,
right? Real ashrams existed in Satyug, when people were earnestly
trying to attain only moksha. But in this Kaliyug, ashrams have
become a collection of resting places. No one cares about moksha
nowadays. Therefore, it is not worth building ashrams in the
current time cycle.
Money and sex are the greatest illusions in religion
People have made businesses out of religion. They want to
make a profit (monetary and pride validation) out of being
worshipped. There are many such businesses in India. Are there
only two or three such businesses? There are countless such
businesses. How can we say such things to the owners of such
businesses? How can you say no to someone who tells you that
he wants to start such a shop? So then what should we tell the
customer?
Questioner: We should stop him.
Dadashri: No, you should not stop him; this is just the
way it continues in the world.
Questioner: Today, people are involved in raising millions
of rupees to build ashrams.
Dadashri: But the rupees are like that; there is no substance
(impure money) in such money.
Questioner: But what if those rupees are used for a good
cause like education or helping people?
Dadashri: Even if it is used for a good cause, what I am
saying is that none of it reaches God (the Self). If it is used for a
good cause, it will produce many good results (merit karma -
punya), but what benefit does one gets out of it for the Self?
There is no religion where there is money. Whatever the degree
of priority for money in a religion, there is an equally corresponding
weakness there.
Questioner: When money comes, one has to attend to it,
take care of it and make arrangements for it.
Dadashri: No, not like that. Not for its arrangement. There
will always be volunteers who are willing to take care of all that.
But religion becomes weak in the presence of money. The biggest
maya - illusion that deceives, is that of money and sex. These are
the two biggest illusions people have. And God does not exist
where there is illusion ( maya), and there cannot be any illusion
where there is God.
And when money enters into religion, there is no telling how
deep it will trap the guru. Are there any rules here? Therefore, no
money should be involved at the very root. Come clean; do not
adulterate religion!
Religion is in shambles today
In addition, they charge a fee just as there is a fee when you
go to see a play. There are about five percent or so gurus that are
good. Just as the price of gold goes up, so do their fees! That is
why I had to write in the books that neither God nor religion
exists in the exchange of money. God exists where there is no
exchange of money or business in religion. Whenever there is
exchange of money, it has become a business.
There is money involved wherever you go. They charge
you a fee everywhere. So what crime have the poor committed
there? And if you keep a fee, then charge the poor a nominal
amount so they too can attend and get the benefit. But mostly, The Guru and the Disciple 131
132 The Guru and the Disciple

72. only the rich take the benefit. Wherever there are any fees, there
is no religion. We do not charge anyone here. What would happen
if we did? You will spend your money once to get the Gnan, then
you will say, ‘We will practice the Gnan very strongly, but we will
not pay to attend again.’
It is wrong to name names, but I am giving you a synopsis
of what has become of religion today. It is wrong that gurus have
become business-minded. It is wrong to keep fees. Wherever
there are practitioners (trainees), they charge fees. All such things
are useless.
Where there is business of money, there one cannot be
called a ‘guru’. Where tickets are issued, it is called a ‘play.’ But
nowadays people don’t know any better and they go to only the
ones who sell tickets. They adjust to each other better because
they are beggars and so are the gurus, therefore, everything that
goes on is very insincere and completely false.
Then they (gurus) claim they are nispruha (free from desires
or inclination). Why do you make such claims? If you are nispruha
then no one will ever be suspicious about you. And if you are with
spruha (deepest desire and inclination), then no matter what you
say, no one is going to refrain from being suspicious about you
and no one is going to believe you no matter what you say, because
your spruha will say it all.
The demand for fraud is the reason for its supply
Here everyone is trying to fill his stomach and that is the
beggary (bheekh). Everyone is in it for himself. If it is not for the
stomach, then it is for fame. It is for the beggary of fame, beggary
of money and beggary of pride. You can attain anything you want
from a man who has no beggary of any kind. A person who has
beggary has not attained anything or improved himself and so he
cannot help you improve either. Everywhere people have started
a business and the customers keep coming.
One man asks me, ‘Is it the fault of the customers or the
businessman?’ I told him that the fault lies with the customer. A
man can start any type of business he wants to but should the
customers not be ‘savvy’? If a fisherman throws bait on a hook,
and the fish is greedy and bites the bait, who is at fault, the fish or
the fisherman? It is the fault of the one who takes the bait. People
take the bait thrown by these gurus.
People have created sects in order to fulfill their desires to
be worshipped. The entire fault does not fall upon the poor
worshippers. The fault lies with the brokers; the intermediaries.
These intermediaries are not content and do not let others be
content. That is why I am trying to expose all this. One has always
taken pleasure in brokering and made a safe-side for himself.
However, you should not tell them that they are at fault. What is
the point of telling them? They will be hurt and we have not come
here to hurt anyone. All we have to do is understand where the
weakness lies. Why do brokers still exist? It is because the flow
of customers is very strong. Where would they go if they did not
have customers? They will go away, but the fault mainly lies with
the customers, does it not? So the main fault is ours. How long
will a realtor run around to sell a home? He will do so as long as
he has customers, otherwise he will stop and remain silent.
Greed and intense greed leads both sides astray
Questioner: The gurus of today are only after money.
Dadashri: People are like that too. The ‘logs’ are crooked
and therefore there are crooked ‘saws’ for them. Even the wood
today is not straight! People are crooked and that is why they find
crooked gurus. What crookedness do people have? ‘I want a
son for my son’! It is these kinds of intense greed ( lalacha) that
make them victims and subject to exploitation by their gurus. How
is a guru going to get a son for your son? When he does not have
wife and children of his own, where is he going to get a son for
your son? Why don’t you ask someone with children? People The Guru and the Disciple 133
134 The Guru and the Disciple

73. have gurus because of their intense greed ( lalacha) for such things.
Hence, these fraudulent gurus have taken advantage of such
lalacha. It is right to make someone a guru when you do not have
any lalacha yourself.
These gurus simply change their attire and mislead people.
People, on the other hand, are fooled because of their lalacha.
They would not be fooled if they did not have any lalacha. The
one who has no lalacha will never have the occasion to be fooled.
Questioner: But today, people ask their guru for worldly
happiness; no one asks for liberation.
Dadashri: It is all worldly talk everywhere, is it not? There
is no talk about liberation. It is all about, ‘I want my son to have a
son,’ or ‘I want my business to run well,’ or ‘My son needs a
job,’ or ‘Bless me so I can get this or that…’ There are endless
such lalacha. Hey you! Have you come here for religion, for
liberation or worldly things?
There is a saying, “guru is greedy ( lobhi), and the disciple
has intense greed lalacha, so they both play their own game.”
This should not be the case. The disciple is filled with lalacha and
so the guru will tell him, ‘Your work will be done with my
blessings.’ Therefore, nothing will be attained when lalacha is
involved.
The guru must not be selfish and covetous
It is because of Kaliyug that the gurus of today have nothing
of substance to offer. They are more selfish than you are. They
are trying to fulfill their self-interest and you are trying to fulfill
yours. This is not what the path of a guru and a disciple should be.
Questioner: Often times, for many years, intelligent people
take such phony gurus as being real gurus.
Dadashri: That is nothing but intense greed ( lalacha) only.
Many people make gurus out of their own lalacha.
Today’s gurus are gurus of Kaliyug. They have some kind
of self-interest. “I wonder how he (the disciple) can be useful to
me?” is always at the back of their minds. They have such thoughts
in their minds even before they meet you. If a doctor were to go
there, the moment he sets eyes on the doctor, he will think about
the ways the doctor can be useful for him. He will welcome the
doctor. Hey you! What need do you have of a doctor? He is
thinking about all of this in self-interest. You should never get your
work done from those who have self-interest. You should go to
someone who does not want anything and is not selfish. With a
selfish person, he has his self-interest and you have yours. If there is
any self-interest in a guru-disciple relationship, then there is no real
guru and no real disciple. There should not be any self-interest here.
If you are not selfish, you can tell the guru, ‘Sir, I will leave
you the day I see any selfishness in you. I will curse you and
leave. You may let me stay if you want to. I will not let you be
without food and drink, but do not have any selfishness.’
Yes, you need a guru in whom you do not see any self-
interest. But today, the gurus are greedy and disciples have intense
greed; the two get together, so how can anything worthy come
out of that? Then both continue playing their own games.
Mainly it is because people have lalacha that these
fraudulent gurus continue to thrive. A real guru is never fraudulent;
there are few such gurus out there, are there not? This world is
not without them but they are hard to find, are they not? Only the
seekers with very good merit karma find them.
The greedy guru and the intensely greedy disciple
Then there are gurus who take money for visiting and gracing
people’s homes with their footsteps! Why don’t you bless a poor
man’s home with your footsteps? Why do you treat the poor this
way? Don’t you have to think about the poor too? I told one man
who did this, that he was wasting his money and time. Why don’t The Guru and the Disciple 135
136 The Guru and the Disciple

74. you invite some poor man, in whom God resides, to come to
grace and bless your home with his feet instead? But people are
so greedy that they think, “When the Guru sets foot in my home,
my work will be done; after fifteen years my son will have a son of
his own!”
Questioner: That is because people have such a faith.
Dadashri: No, it is because they are intensely greedy
(lalachu). It is not faith. That is not called faith. Lalachu people
will take a conditional vow - a baadha (for example a person will
give up eating rice until his specific wish is fulfilled) for something.
They will even take a conditional vow on the instructions of a mad
guru. If someone tells them, ‘This man is crazy but he grants children
to couples.’ People will fall at his feet calling him ‘Bapji,’ and if a
child is born to them, they will give him the credit. What can you
say to people with lalacha?
People even tell me, ‘Dada has given us all this,’ so I tell
them, ‘Dada does not give anything.’ But they give all the credit
to Dada. It happens because of their merit karma and my
yashnaam karma (karma that brings fame and credit). When the
two are present, then your work gets done with a mere touch of
my hand. But people say that I (Dada) am the one who does all
this. I tell them that is not so and they are getting that which is their
own. Why would I do anything? Why would I take on such trouble
when I do not want anything? Get your work done from the one
who does not want anything, who does not have any expectations
or beggary of any kind.
What I am saying is that you may have my footsteps bless
your home, but do it without expectations of any monetary or
material gains. It is fine if there is such a nimit and the work gets
done.
Questioner: Can one do it for his own betterment and not
for his home?
Dadashri: Yes, he can do anything, but there should not
be any expectations for money. His intention should not be bad.
If you were to forcefully take me to your home, is that considered
blessing your home through my footsteps? It has to happen with
my being pleased. Then it does not matter whether you please me
through words or through deceit. However, you cannot please
me through deceit.
There are some who even come here to deceive me; they
come to flatter me, but I will not be deceived. Hundreds of
thousands of people come to me. Some try to flatter me while
wanting something or other but he will not succeed. He will not be
able to get a response from me. He will realize that he will not get
anywhere and so he will leave. I have seen such ‘gurus’ - deceitful
gurus. I recognize them the moment they come here. Do you not
have to call them ‘guru’? What else are they? You cannot call
them deceivers; you have to call them ‘guru’, don’t you?
Questioner: Yes.
Dadashri: I have met many such gurus. I will not say
anything to them directly. They eventually get tired thinking, ‘I
have come here to tell him things and I have brought him things,
but he does not even listen to me.’ They eventually get tired and
leave with a realization that they cannot get anywhere with this
Dada and that there is no such opportunity in the future. Hey you!
I don’t want anything; why do you try to look for opportunities
here? Go to someone who wants something; go to a lalachu
man. There is no covetousness here. I will send them back, no
matter who comes here.
People come here saying, ‘Come on in Uncle, we do not
like it here without you. You can tell us to do anything and we will
do it for you. We will even massage your legs for you.’ They will
come to flatter you this way. Just turn a deaf ear to such flattery.
Do you understand this? The Guru and the Disciple 137
138 The Guru and the Disciple

75. Everything has now become sarad without deception, so
get all your work done. That is all I am telling you to do. This
much straightforwardness and lack of deception, will not come
again. You will not have this chance again. This is a tremendous
opportunity so do not let other things tempt you. There is no fun in
these transient temptations. You will find people to tempt you, but
there is no benefit in it for you. Therefore, let go of the habit of
enjoying transient things, for this one lifetime. You have only half
of your life left now, do you not? It is not your whole life is it?
Purity of conduct is a must in a guru
Questioner: You say all these things; no one else speaks
like this.
Dadashri: Yes, but one can speak this way only if he has
become pure, otherwise, how can he? They want to enjoy the
worldly temptations and worldly happiness. How are they going
to say such things? Therefore, purity is required. I do not want
anything in this world, including all the gold and money in this world.
I do not even have thoughts about women. I do not have any
beggary (bheekh) of any kind. I remain continuously as the Self.
Questioner: So every guru’s individual moral character
should be pure?
Dadashri: Yes. The guru’s moral character should be
absolutely pure. The disciple’s character may not be so, but the
guru’s should be exact. One is not a guru if his moral character is
not proper; it would be meaningless. Even the incense has
character. If a few incense sticks were burning, they would
completely fill this room with their fragrance. Then how can you
have a guru without moral character? A guru should have his own
fragrance.
Two things impede moksha
Two things do not exist in the path of moksha . One is
thoughts about woman and the other is thoughts about money.
Religion does not exist where there are thoughts about woman or
money. This world exists because of these two maya (illusions).
So it is wrong to look for religion there. But how many institutions
run without money today?
Questioner: Not a single one.
Dadashri: People are not able to break free from this maya
(illusion). Maya has entered even in the guru. This is the Kaliyug,
so maya is bound to affect people, is it not? There can never be
true religion where there is any exchange of money or thoughts
about women. I am not talking about those living a worldly life
(sansari), I am talking about the gurus and those whose preaching
guides people; they should not have these two illusions. Otherwise,
they have it, and the sansaris have it too! It should not be like
that. And what is the third requirement? They should have samyak
drashti (Self-realization).
So you should not linger wherever there is any sexual
interaction or interaction with money. Look before you make
someone your guru. Do not make him a guru if he has these flaws
in character ( charitra). Even the slightest flaw in these matters is
not acceptable. It does not matter if he travels in cars, but he
should not fail in his interaction with women. There is no problem
even if he has pride and he becomes happy when others revere
him. We can pardon all these things as long as he is decent and
upright in his dealings with women. This is most important in one’s
moral character.
Questioner: It is commonly held that money and women
are obstacles in the practice of true religion. However, it is also
true that women are more religious.
Dadashri: It is not a question of whether women are
religious or not. There is no problem with women in religion. The
problem is with viewing and thinking of them sexually. The problem
The Guru and the Disciple 139 140 The Guru and the Disciple

76. is with viewing a woman as an object of sexual pleasure. She is a
pure Soul and not a sexual object.
Religion cannot exist wherever money is accepted; money
taken in the form of fees, tax or duty, as a gift, etc. Where money
is taken in these forms, religion cannot exist. Religion cannot happen
where money is involved and vice versa. So this is easy to
understand, is it not? Wherever money and sex are involved, one
is not even a guru.
Things are going to change. Now there will be good gurus.
Good means pure. If a guru has financial difficulty, then you can
ask him what he needs for his sustenance. There should not be
anything else besides this. They should not have needs to become
famous or any such things.
Taking money from anyone creates a separation
Do you think people are happy? They are unhappy to
begin with and then you take money from them? Do people not
go to a guru to get rid of their misery? But then you increase
their misery by charging them twenty-five rupees. You cannot
take even a dime from anyone. Taking anything from anyone is
a separation (judai) with him. And that verily is called sansar
(the worldly life). One wanders around in this life after life. In
such interactions, the taker is the one who wanders. He takes
money because he thinks of the other person as not one of his
own.
If I use anything or spend even a rupee that I have not
earned, for myself, I would become spiritually bankrupt. One
should not spend even a single dime of the disciple’s money. Those
who have started such a business will go into bankruptcy and
waste away whatever siddhis (special spiritual energies) they have
attained. The guru had attracted people with whatever little siddhis
he had attained, but then those siddhis will get used up. Any
siddhis that are misused will be lost.
Hand over your miseries to the Gnani Purush
Many people come here and leave some of their money.
You do not need to leave your money here; here you have to ask
for money. Is this a place to give things? Do you have to give
anything to the emperor of the universe? On the contrary, you
have to ask him to remove all your difficulties. Give your money
to a guru. He may be in need of clothes or something else. The
Gnani Purush does not need anything.
One businessperson had three large trunks delivered to
where I lived in Santa Cruz in Mumbai. Then he came to meet
me. I asked him what the trunks were. ‘Nothing, but just a
token…if not the whole flower then even a petal…,’ he replied.
Then I asked him if he had any difficulties or problems, so he told
me that he wanted a child. In what life did you not have children?
You had children when you were a dog, a donkey, a monkey; in
which life did you not have children? You still ask for children?
Even when God is pleased with you, you still ask for children?
And you come to me with a bribe? You have come to taint me
with your filth? If I become filthy, to whom will I pass on the filth?
Go and spread your filth on the gurus out there. Those poor gurus
do not get any ‘filth.’ How did you bring this problem here? So he
replied, ‘Sir, please bless us.’ I replied, ‘Yes I will bless you, I will
use some influence.’
As far as your problems are concerned, all I have to do is
to pick up the ‘phone’ and call the dev-devas (celestial beings in
ready service of the Gnani Purush). All I have to do is act as an
intermediary and carry out the exchange. Otherwise, the Gnani
Purush does not get involved. The Gnani Purush does not meddle
in such things, but he is here to listen to people’s miseries, is he
not? He is here to get rid of all the problems, is he not? If you
have difficulties, come and ask for money. Now, I do not give out
money, but I will make the appropriate calls; just do not be greedy.
Come only if you have difficulty and I will do everything, but only The Guru and the Disciple 141 142 The Guru and the Disciple

77. as far as your difficulty demands. I will stop the moment you start
to become greedy.
Hand over your miseries to me and, if you have faith
(vishvas) in me, they will not come back to you. But they will if
you lose faith in me. So if you have any difficulties, tell me, ‘Dada,
I am surrendering my miseries to you.’ If I take away your miseries,
then you will get somewhere, otherwise, how will you?
I have come to take away the miseries of the world. Keep
your happiness with you. Do you have a problem with that? If
someone like you gives me money, what am I going to do with
that money? I have come to take away miseries. Keep your money;
it will be useful to you. There is no exchange of money where
there is a Gnani Purush, he comes to take away your miseries, not
increase them.
Purity of the Gnani
If I were to take money from people, people would give
me as much as I wanted. But what am I going to do with money?
I have attained the status of this Gnani only when all beggary
(bheekh) left.
In America, on Gurupurnima day (on this day, devotees
have the divine full darshan of their guru or Gnani), people would
put gold chains weighing as much as three ounces around my
neck and I used to give them back; what was I going to do with
them? One woman began to cry and pleaded, ‘You have to accept
my chain.’ So I asked her if she will wear a chain if I were to give
her one. She replied, ‘I do not have a problem with that, but I
cannot take yours.’ I told her, ‘I will have someone else give it to
you.’ If I were to give someone a very heavy gold chain and
make them promise to wear it even at night when she went to
sleep, is she likely to wear it? She would return it the very next
day and say, ‘Here, Dada take your chain back.’ If there is
happiness in gold, then the more gold you get, the happier you
will be. But your belief that happiness exists in gold is a wrong
belief. Can there be happiness in it? Bliss lies where there is no
need to get anything. Bliss is where there is no need to acquire
anything from this world.
I eat, drink, and wear clothes that I have bought with my
own money that I have earned from my business and whatever
comes to me in my prarabdha (karma effect). I do not take money
from anyone and I do not wear anything that is given to me by
others. I have paid for this dhoti (a piece of cloth wear around
the waist) that I wear, and I also pay for my own airline tickets to
Mumbai. So why would I need any money? How will people
accept even a word of what I say if I take a dime from anyone? It
would be tantamount to eating his leftovers. I do not need anything.
What could even God give to the one who does not desire
anything?
A man came to give me a dhoti, another man came to give
me something else. If I had the desire, it would be a different
matter, but I do not have any desire at all. I am comfortable wearing
even torn clothes. I am saying that the purer you keep everything,
the more the world will benefit.
One’s purity means…
In this world, the greater your purity, the more of the world
is yours. You own the world! I have not been an owner of this
body for the past twenty-six years and that is why my purity is
complete. So, become pure, pure.
Questioner: Please clarify purity.
Dadashri: Purity means that you do not need anything in
this world; there is no beggary for anything.
Worldly people always want to become superior to others
It is different here; this is not a shop. People still call this a
shop. They ask, ‘Why have you opened a shop like all the others? The Guru and the Disciple 143 144 The Guru and the Disciple

78. What self-interest do you have?’ I do have self-interest in this.
My self-interest is that you attain the bliss that I have attained.
People are suffering; they are roasting like potatoes in a fire pit.
They are struggling hopelessly like fish out of water. That is why I
have to go around wandering from one place to another. Many
have attained this path of bliss.
Questioner: So that is not a self-serving need, but rather a
bhavna (inner intent) that all living beings attain salvation.
Dadashri: It is a bhavna that people attain salvation. No
one except the Tirthankaras and the Gnanis have such bhavnas.
How can one think about others when he is not content himself?
What do people seek? They seek to attain a higher status. A
sadhu (monk) keeps thinking, ‘When will they make me an
acharya (religious principal)?’ while the acharya thinks, ‘when
will he make me…?’ These are all the bhavna they have. Then
there are people who have the bhavna to deal in the black market.
A collector has a bhavna for becoming a commissioner. No one
cares about Jagat kalyan (world’s salvation). Therefore, in the
relative, the whole world is preoccupied with guruta (superiority).
They cannot attain gurutam, the highest inner state, the Gnani.
Questioner: What is meant by guruta (superiority) in the
relative?
Dadashri: Guruta means a need to advance higher. They
all believe they will become superior as they go higher. They want
superiority only in the relative. But when are they likely to become
superior in the relative world? The relative world is temporary. A
person tries to go higher with whatever superiority he has attained,
but there is no telling when he will fall. In the relative world one
needs laghuta (to want to become lower). Those who try to be
superior in the relative world will not attain anything.
Superiority makes one crash in the end
He who has not become laghutam (lower than the lowest)
is not fit to be gurutam (higher than the highest). Not a single
guru today has ever tried to become laghutam. Everyone is going
towards gurutam. Nevertheless, nobody is at fault here; the
current time cycle has become an obstacle and the intellect has
turned negative. What are all these gurus working towards? Their
business is to find out how to go higher, how to increase their
superiority. They do not want to go lower. They go higher up in
the worldly life and they make a name for themselves by increasing
disciples. This only makes them go lower in nischay (in the realm of
the Self). Consequently, their inner spiritual state declines. Ascending
in the worldly life is a sign of decline in the spiritual realm.
A man leaves behind three human beings, a wife and two
children, and runs away to become a guru. He became tired of
the three at home and so he goes and makes one hundred and
eight disciples! Why did he leave the three behind and latch onto
one hundred and eight? What was wrong with the three at home?
Are these one hundred and eight better than those three? Now
these new ones will make all the noise. Why have you started this
nonsense?
Dada is the disciple of disciples
Questioner: Has Dada made anyone his disciple?
Dadashri: I sit here as a disciple of the whole world. I am
a disciple of even the disciples. What do I need a disciple for?
Why would I want to take on their responsibilities? There are fifty
thousand people who follow me but I am a disciple of them all.
Is the Gnani Purush a guru?
Questioner: So then are you not a guru?
Dadashri: No, I am a disciple of the whole world. Why
would I want to be a guru?
Questioner: What if, from today onwards, I consider you
as a true guru and surrender to you? The Guru and the Disciple 145 146 The Guru and the Disciple

79. Dadashri: But I do not have time to become a guru. You
just remain in the Gnan that I give you and go to moksha from
here. How long will you wait to make a guru out of me? There is
no need to consider me as your guru. I will not allow the status of
guru to be established. If I show you everything all the way to the
end, then would there be any problems?
I do not become anybody’s guru. What do I want from
being a guru? I am a Gnani Purush. What does ‘Gnani Purush’
mean? It means an observatory! Whatever you want to know,
you can know from him. Do you understand?
Questioner: Can a Gnani not become a guru?
Dadashri: A Gnani will never become anyone’s guru. I am
laghutam. How can I be a guru? One needs buddhi (intellect) to
be a guru and I do not have any buddhi. Does a guru need buddhi
or not? I have written in my books that I am abuddha (beyond
intellect; not using buddhi despite having it). Nobody in the world
has called himself abuddha. I am the only and the first one to do
so. I have truly become abuddha. You will not find a drop of
buddhi in me. My work gets done without buddhi, does it not?
Thus everyone is a guru
Do you find justice in this statement? When I say, ‘I am
everyone’s disciple,’ do you find justice in that statement?
Questioner: In what way are all these people your guru?
Dadashri: These are all my gurus because I will immediately
accept everything they have. They believe they are taking from
Dada. I consider every being in this world as my guru, not just the
fifty thousand who have taken Gnan from me. Every living being
in this world is my guru. Wherever there is any truth ( satya); I
accept it. If there is a dog passing by, I will accept the dog’s truth
also. I accept any visheshata (superiority); anything that is more
than what I am. Do you understand this?
Questioner: So if you attain anything from anyone, is he
your guru?
Dadashri: Yes. That way everyone is my guru. That is
why I have made every living being in the world, my guru. You
will have to have a guru, will you not? Everyone has some
knowledge, so everyone can be your guru. God Himself will not
come here (in the relative world). He is not sitting idle that He will
go back and forth for you.
I am lower than the lowest
Questioner: In all this, where do you place yourself?
Dadashri: I believe that I am a disciple of the whole world
and by nature I am laghutam (lower than the lowest). Besides
this state, I do not have any other state. And God, Dada Bhagwan,
has manifested within.
You only need to change the direction of your ego
Questioner: Currently, in India, are there any other
extraordinary human beings like You?
Dadashri: How would I know? You are looking for one
so you may come to know. I have not looked for one.
Questioner: You are at the peak so you would be able to
see, would you not?
Dadashri: But how would I know if there is a peak higher
than the one I am on? What did those who have been to every
peak say? They all claim, ‘I am the only one that is on the highest
peak,’ but I have never said that.
Questioner: But can you not see all those that are on peaks
lower than yourself?
Dadashri: They appear lower, but they are not considered
lower. It is verily the same thing, is it not? This is because the
The Guru and the Disciple 147 148 The Guru and the Disciple

80. peak that I am on, I sit there as being the smallest ( laghutam) in
worldly life ( vyavahar). In the worldly life interactions, people
try to be gurutam, whereas I have become laghutam there. What
did those who try to be gurutam get in return? They went lower
in nischay (the realm of the Self). In the worldly life, I became
laghutam and, therefore, I became gurutam in nischay (the realm
of the Self).
There is no one lower than I am, in the world; that is how
laghutam I am. One can be elevated to the status of God if he
becomes laghutam. Still, I feel it is very bothersome to become
a God; on the contrary, I feel ashamed. I do not want that status.
Why would I want it? And can that state be attained in this time
cycle? All kinds of people have claimed the status of God in this
time cycle. On the contrary, that status can be abused. Why do I
need that status? I am a Gnani, is this status of a Gnani Purush
any lesser? And I am a Gnani in the form of a disciple of the
whole world. I am a Laghutam Purush - the smallest and the
lowest of men. What status can be greater than this? There is no
chance of falling from a laghutam state, which is how great this
state is.
Anyone who becomes a disciple of the world will become
gurutam. This is the only way. This sentence is telling you to
change your direction. The effort you make in wanting to go higher
and become gurutam, is really a gurutam ego that you walk
around with. Instead, if you have a laghutam ego of, ‘How can I
become lower?’ then your Gnan will blossom tremendously. A
gurutam ego will always bring veils of ignorance over your Gnan
and a laghutam ego will make it blossom.
Someone said, ‘Sir, you are great man.’ I told him, ‘You
do not know me. You do not know my real greatness. You will
realize how great I am if you were to insult me.’ Would you not
see a police-like, authoritarian response if you were to use abusive
language with me? If I say, ‘Who do you think you are?’ realize
that the ‘policeman’ has arrived! If you see a policeman-like nature
in me, then realize that my worldly superiority is there and if you
do not see that in me, then it shows that I am laghutam.
So if someone insults me, I will tell him that his insults have
no effect on me. I am even smaller than his insult. Therefore, find
something that would affect me when you insult me. If you call me
a donkey, I am much lower than the donkey. Your mouth will get
tired instead. Find a place where I am at, where your insults will
have an effect on me. My place is called laghutam.
Who will do the work, after the Gnani Purush?
So ‘who’ is this ‘one’ in front of you? It is a Laghutam
Purush. How rare is this darshan (live viewing) of a Laghutam
Purush? You cannot have such a darshan. Find me a person who
is laghutam. I am the disciple of all these fifty thousand people.
Do you understand? I do not make disciples at all. ‘I’ have not
made them disciples.
Questioner: What will happen after you leave? What will
happen if you do not have any disciples after you?
Dadashri: There is no need for it. I do not have any
disciples but there are many who will cry and mourn; there are at
least fifty thousand people who will mourn.
Questioner: But who will be there after you are gone?
Dadashri: Time will tell you who that person is. I do not
know anything and I do not have the time to think about it.
Questioner: You say that there will be forty to fifty thousand
who will mourn after you but no disciples. So what are you trying
to convey?
Dadashri: I do not have any disciples. This is not a throne.
If it were a throne, then there would be an heir to it. People would
come here to become heirs, would they not? Here, only the one The Guru and the Disciple 149 150 The Guru and the Disciple

81. The greatest key to progress in the spiritual path
One evening Gnani Purush Dadashri and Pujya Niruben
were sitting alone after a satsang. Dada looked at Niruben and
with a smile asked, ‘Niruben, will you accept and agree to follow
a simple instruction of mine?’ ‘Of course Dada’ replied Niruben.
‘Find and make just one disciple of yours’, said Dadashri. Niruben
experienced puzzle and bewilderment. All her years at the feet of
the Gnani, she had learnt only one message. His aphorism was
that she had to be a shishya (disciple) of all living beings….in
order to progress in the path of enlightenment. She also had never
so far negated any word of the Gnani said, ‘Let me remain as
shishya, at your feet Dada. I have no desire to make or have any
disciple. This is what you have taught me.’ Dada smiled further
almost enjoying Niruben’s bewilderment. “Try and understand
my request. I am asking you to make only one, just one disciple.
No more!” He said, “Make Niruben your disciple.” Dada told
her.
What an extraordinary statement from The Gnani! Just as
the sun establishes its presence when clouds move away, the
greatness of this sutra and its phenomenal meaning began to take
hold within Niruben. Pujya Dadashri explained further, “Just as a
master takes care of his disciple, attending to his welfare, making
sure that he does not slip, constantly in contact and conversation
with him for his benefit, guiding him to higher and higher levels,
always being there as a friend and a guide; You will attend to your
disciple named Niruben . Do you understand?”
“Oh ho ho Dada! You have done a wonderful thing!”
responded Niruben. At that time, Niruben realized that The Gnani
had just given to her and the world one of the greatest keys to
progress in the spiritual path. She experienced the true meaning
of the term, “Sahajatma Swaroop param guru...- the natural
State of the Self is the ultimate guru.”
The Guru and the Disciple 151 who becomes a disciple of the whole world will succeed. Only
he, who the world accepts will succeed here.
Oneness of Akram Vignan
This is not the path of a guru. This is not a religion or a sect.
I have never been, or ever will be anyone’s guru. I do not have
the attributes of becoming a guru. I am giving you the same state
that I am in. I have not maintained a guru-disciple state. Everywhere
else, they maintain that control. What is the principle of the world?
People will not let go of their control. There is no separation
between you and I. You may feel the separation, but I do not.
That is because I reside within you and I reside in him too, so
then, how can there be any separation ( judai)?
Really, there is no Gurupurnima (a day commemorated
for gurus) here. People celebrate it as an occasion for having
darshan. Here there is no guru and no ‘ Purnima’ full moon. This
is a state of laghutam. Here it is your own state; it is a state of
abheda – a state of oneness.
We are not separate at all. When one becomes a guru, a
separation of ‘you and I; a guru and disciple’ is created. But here
there is no custom of guru-disciple relationship at all, because this
is Akram Vignan.
Jai Sat Chit Anand

82. Niruben: “I experienced a direct clarification of the term
‘Sahajatma Swaroop param guru’, ‘I’ the real Self am the Guru
and Niruben is the disciple. That is when I realized how
incomprehensible the vision of a Gnani is with reference to guru-
disciple relationship. Where is the worldly talk of making someone
else your guru and where this the talk of establishing your own
Soul as your guru? Truly, that is the real and the highest Guru.
Other gurus will give you instructions for a few hours and go away.
They go to their homes and you to yours. Are we then likely to
listen to that Guru? Are we going to do as they tell us?
This is your own Soul that has manifested within you as
your highest Guru who is there twenty-four hours for you. He is
so alert that he will not allow you to deviate even a little from the
path of liberation. Liberation is possible only through establishing
such a Guru; otherwise one has to keep on struggling. This is the
ultimate line of demarcation between a guru and disciple.”
Dr. Niruben Amin
Glossary
AbhedaState of oneness
AadhintaCompliance
Ajampo Restlessness
AnamiNameless
ArtadhyanAdverse internal contemplation due to
presence of kashaya
AasaktiInner weakness inclined towards
attractions that arises from within
Atma GnanKnowledge of the Self
AtmagnaniKnower of the Soul, Self-realized
Bhaav Intention
Bheda Vignani A spiritual scientist that has the
experiential knowledge that keeps the
Self and the non-Self separate
CharitrabudEffective energy through thoughts,
speech and acts.
ChitInner component that knows and sees
worldly events and objects
DharmadhyanContemplation or meditation without
any adverse effects, internal or external
DharmadhyanAbsence of artadhyan and
raudradhyan
GarvarasSweet juice of doer ship
Gurukilli Special directives from a Gnani; special
key
GurutamHigher than the highest
JudaiSeparation
KadhapoMental torment
Kashayas Inner weakness of anger, pride, deceit,
and greed
Krupa-drashti When the disciple does what the guru
asks, it keeps the guru happy
LaghutamSmallest of the small

83. LaghutamLower than the lowest
MokshaFinal liberation
Naguno Has no qualities
NimitSomeone who is an instrumental
evidence in a process
Nischay Spiritual path
Paroksha bhaktiIndirect worship
PotapanuI-ness
Prakruti Worldly attributes
Prakrutinon-Self complex of thoughts, speech
and acts
Pratyaksh bhaktiDirect worship
Punya-anubandhi-punyaHighest of merit karma; past merit
karma binding even higher new merit
karma
Rajipo To please the guru
SamarpanSurrender of the mind speech and the
body
SamkitRight vision
Shaktipat Transfer of relative energy
Shraddha ni murti Idol of faith
Shraddheya One in whom the faith becomes
established naturally
ShukladhyanMeditation as the Self
SwachhandActions guided by one’s own ego
Swayambuddha Spontaneous enlightened
TyagiSomeone who has renounced the
worldly life
UpadaanDevelopment
Updeshak A preacher
VachanbudEnergy or power of speech that is
effective in the other person
VinayHumility
Virat Purush A person who dissolve your ego
Yashnaam karmaKarma that brings fame and credit
Nine Deep Inner Intents
1. Dearest Dada Bhagwan! Give me the infinite inner strength
not to hurt, cause someone to hurt, nor instigate anyone to hurt
the ego of any living being, even to the slightest extent.
Give me the infinite inner strength not to hurt the ego of any
living being and to conduct my thoughts, speech and action in
a manner that is accepted by all.
2. Dearest Dada Bhagwan ! Give me the infinite inner strength
not to hurt, cause someone to hurt, nor instigate anyone to hurt
the foundation of any religion, even to the slightest extent.
Give me the infinite inner strength not to hurt, even to the slight-
est extent, the foundation of any religion and to conduct my
thoughts, speech and action in a manner that is accepted by all.
3. Dearest Dada Bhagwan ! Give me the infinite inner strength
not to criticize, offend, or insult any living monk, nun, preacher
or a religious head.
4. Dearest Dada Bhagwan ! Give me the infinite inner strength
not to, nor cause anyone to, nor instigate anyone to dislike or
hate any living being, even to the slightest extent.
5. Dearest Dada Bhagwan ! Give me the infinite inner strength
not to, nor cause anyone to, nor instigate any one to speak, any
harsh or hurtful language towards any living being, even to the
slightest extent.
If someone speaks in harsh or hurtful language, please give me
the strength to speak kindly and softly in reply.
6. Dearest Dada Bhagwan ! Give me the infinite inner strength
not to have, nor cause to have, nor instigate someone to have
any sexual desires, feelings or gestures towards any living being
be it male or female, or of neutral sexual orientation.
Give me the supreme strength to be eternally free of sexual
desire.

84. Website :

www.dadabhagwan.org & www.dadashri.org
Persons to Contact
Dada Bhagwan Parivar
Adalaj :Trimandir, Simandhar City,
Ahmedabad-Kalol Highway, Adalaj,
Dist.: Gandhinagar - 382421, Gujarat, India.
Tel : [phone], Email : [email protected]
Ahmedabad :"Dada Darshan", 5, Mamtapark Society, B/h. Navgujarat
College, Usmanpura, Ahmedabad- 380 014.
Tel. : [phone]
Rajkot :Trimandir, Ahmedabad-Rajkot Highway, Nr. Targhadiya
Chokdi, Maliyasan Village, Rajkot. Tel.: [phone]
Other than Gujarat :
Mumbai :Tel. : [phone]
Pune: Mobile : [phone]
Kolkata: Mobile : [phone]
Bangalore: Mobile : [phone]
U.S.A. : Dada Bhagwan Vignan Institute : Dr. Bachu Amin,
100, SW Redbud Lane, Topeka, Kansas 66606
Tel : [phone], Email : [email protected]
Dr. Shirish Patel, 2659, Raven Circle, Corona, CA 92882
Tel.:[phone], Email:[email protected]
U.K. : Dada Centre, 236, Kingsbury Road, (Above Kingsbury
Printers), Kingsbury, London, NW9 0BH
Tel. : [phone]
Email : [email protected]
Canada :
Dinesh Patel, 4, Halesia Drive, Etobicock,
Toronto, M9W 6B7. Tel. : [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Australia :
0423211778
; Dubai :
506754832
; Singapore :
81129229
7. Dearest Dada Bhagwan ! Give me the infinite inner strength
to control my excessive temptation towards a particular food
taste.
Give me the strength to take food that has the balance of all
tastes.
8. Dearest Dada Bhagwan ! Give me the infinite inner strength
not to, nor cause anyone to, nor instigate anyone to criticize,
offend or insult any being, present or absent, living or dead.
9. Dearest Dada Bhagwan ! Give me the infinite inner strength
to become an instrument in the path of salvation for the world.
(Dada Bhagwan is The Lord within all living beings. You have
to ask this much from Dada Bhagwan everyday. This is not to
be recited mechanically. It has to take hold within you. This is
worthy of your deep inner intent daily. This teaching encom-
passes the essence of all religions.)
™™™™™
Pratikraman : Process of Divine Apology
With Dada Bhagwan as my witness, I offer my salutations
to the Pure Soul who is totally separate from the mind, speech
and body of * _________
I recall my mistakes (aalochana) **
I apologize for these mistakes (pratikraman)
I affirm not to repeat these mistakes again (Pratyakhyaan)
Dearest Dada Bhagwan ! Grant me the strength to act in
accordance with this firm resolution.
* name of the person hurt by you.
** recall the mistakes you committed with this person.
™™™™™